


Mating Season

by delorita, SilverFountains



Category: Prince of Air and Darkness, The Darkest Court - M.A. Grant, The Marked Prince
Genre: Fae & Fairies, Fae Magic, Fairies, Fairy Mating, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Seelie Court, Sex Magic, Unseelie Court, Wing Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delorita/pseuds/delorita, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFountains/pseuds/SilverFountains
Summary: Sebastian has been acting all kinds of strange. Finny has never seen him this restless and with his wings permanently on display. Actually, all of the Fae are acting rather … feral. When Seb's father explains that it is the centennial fairy mating season this explains a lot. However, as Roark and Slaine return to the Seelie Court, the Prince of Air and Darkness does not appear as happy to see his husband as Slaine is to see Seb. And from that moment Finn finds himself on a rollercoaster ride to learn about fairy mating rituals and how baby fairies are made.This is kind of an mpreg story, however, fairy pregnancy is nothing like it is for mammals like humans!
Relationships: Roark Lyne/Phineas Smith, Sebastian/Slaine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Nb. We have not yet finished book 3 so we have not taken that into account. AU where Roark is a true blood Fae.

Phineas looks at his best friend with utter bewilderment. He hasn't seen him in such a state of unrest since that time that Roark had tricked him into infiltrating the Seelie Sìdhe to retrieve his brother Sláine. And that was a couple of years ago now. His act of self sacrifice had staved off the drums of war and undoubtedly he had saved Finny's life. And miraculously he had found love in the unlikeliest of suitors. Now they were brothers-in-law, tied through their handfasting bindings to the two oldest Unseelie princes. And Phineas had never felt happier for his best friend, seeing him blossom into the person - the Green Man! - he was always meant to be.

These last few days, however, Sebastian has been acting all sorts of weird. His wings, normally hidden away like Roark's, have been permanently on display, fluttering like crazy and sparkling with the most dazzling variations of green. He seemed to be unable to sit still, forever pacing the bright and airy room in which they had been working since the last dark moon to draw up the new accords. 

"Seb?" he asks, concerned. "Is everything alright?"

To his surprise his normally grounded-like- an-oaktree best friend flushes a fine shade of pink. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" Seb snaps, completely unlike himself.

"Erhm, well," Finn scratches his nose, "You just seem to be a little… on edge?"

"I'm fine!" Seb heaves a sigh, letting himself fall into one of the arm chairs only to almost immediately rear up again when his wings brush against the back. "I just wish Sláine and Roark would hurry back!" 

Of course Phineas misses his husband also; he always does when he has gone on one of few journeys without him. This time he and Sláine had gone to meet with their youngest brother Lugh to talk about the accords and how the Prince of the Wilds would ensure that the Sluagh would get their share of the new distribution of power. They'd been gone for a while now and whilst Finn had initially enjoyed spending time with Seb in the summer court, his increasingly odd behaviour was starting to concern him. "Are you worried something has happened to them?" he asks carefully, subconsciously bracing himself for another bark. Sebastian has had much keener senses than he or indeed any of the other Fae since he had taken up his birthright. Perhaps he knows something that others don't yet...

But Seb shakes his head. And his wings. "No," he says curtly. "He just needs to come home. Now!" he growls softly, making Finn blink at his friend once more with growing worry. 

+++

When Phineas makes his way across the Sìdhe to the royal gardens he pulls off his shirt to soak in the warm late spring sunshine. He would never say it to Roark, but he does enjoy the warmth and greenery of the Summer Court. It reminds him of home, of working in the fields with his dad and drinking cold homemade lemonade under the blossoming apple trees. The perpetual dark winters of the Unseelie Court can be depressing at times and even though his ley line keeps him warm, it is nice to feel the external warmth on his naked skin. 

It is busy, he notes. Busier than he recalls seeing it for a long time. The Sìdhe seem to be teeming with Seelie Fae, some working the fields, but many stand in groups of two or three animatedly talking and gesturing, their wings fluttering excitedly. Finn cannot recall ever seeing so many Fae with their wings on display, preening them like peacocks, creating a kaleidoscope of shimmering colour across the rolling green fields. Or seeing the Seelie this frivolous. Despite their preference for colour and warmth over their Unseelie cousins, Finn had found the Fae of the Summer Court much more reserved and bound by endless traditional decorum, a strict class system and a well enforced code of behaviours and honour. The behaviour that they display now seems to go against all of that. 

For that reason he is even more surprised when he comes upon two male Fae scrapping in the dust whilst a third appears to be watching them with great interest and amusement. The fight is rather vicious, Finny notes from his short distance away, with the younger of the two trying to tear at the other's sky blue wings with sharp teeth. 

He takes a step towards the spectacle, intending to break up the fight, but is stopped by a hand that grabs his shoulder firmly.

"Best leave them to it, Prince Consort Phineas," a gruff voice tells him. "It would not be proper for you to get involved, as a wedded … person," the older fairy smiles at Finny with deep golden eyes.

"Óisín!" Finn smiles back warmly at Sebastian's father. He had grown fond of his best friend’s dad, whom Seb had invited to live in his mother's old house after things had settled in the summer court. The free fairy had initially been reluctant, but when he'd understood that the royal family had perished and his son and spouse were now the ruling monarchs, he had gracefully accepted the invitation. 

“Okay… May I ask what this is about?” Phineas asks with a frown, still getting used to the formal name Seb’s father keeps addressing him with, despite his efforts of saying _ , just call me Finn, please. _ “I’ve never seen the Seelie Fae fight like this amongst each other.” Not that he has much experience with the Seelie court yet. But then even the Fae of the Winter Court, who were definitely more short tempered and quicker to draw swords, did not settle arguments like this; like a bunch of stray cats, growling and scratching at each other. 

The older fairy motions towards a bench to sit down beneath an arch of red roses. There he pats Finn's arm. "You are human," he observes rather unnecessarily, but continues, "I don't know much about human folk, but I understand this may not be common to you. It is the Beltane Centennial," he smiles at Finn by means of an explanation. 

“The what?” Finn regrets that he didn’t pay more attention at Mather’s when it came to fairy traditions in his first two years. Beltane sounds vaguely familiar, but he can’t remember where to place that expression. He tries to not look as clueless as he feels.  _ I’m the Winter Knight after all! I probably should know these things… _

Sebastian's father coughs softly into his fist when the human doesn't seem to understand his explanation. "Every hundredth sun year the Fae gather for the fertility festival of Beltane. To well ehm… find a mate. To …" he rolls his eyes, trying to find the right words to tell his son's best friend about this particular part of fairy life, "well... to create their offspring," he mutters.

“Oh!” Phineas exclaims unintelligently. He looks at Óisín, his blue eyes wide, trying to comprehend the fact that fairies only are able to create any offspring every hundred years. But then, they live eternal lives. And time here does not pass in the same way as it does in the human world. He smiles warmly, thinking about hyper Sebastian.“So I guess that’s why Seb is behaving so not like himself these days either...”

At that Óisín lights up. "My Sebastian?" He puts his hands together in delight. "I have such hopes that he and his new husband will have joyous news this season! They would make fine parents, don't you think?" Seb's father looks at Finny with eyes wide and glinting.

_ They would make fine parents, don’t you think?  _ Finn does a double take at the question.  _ Seb and Slaine can make a baby together?! _ He suddenly thinks of Roark and his heart starts to ache. “They would,” he says absentmindedly, his brain starting to work in overdrive as he looks back at the two fae who had been fighting. One of them is now crawling away, apparently having lost the fight, his wings drooping behind him, whilst the other pulls the third man into his arms, kissing him openly.  _ Can two male Fae really …? Would  _ we _ be able to create offspring too? How exactly does it work? I don’t have shiny, colourful wings to run around like a peacock, which seems important. Would Roark want ...children? Baby fairies?  _ Finn isn’t quickly lost for words but he bites his lips now. He’s never thought about this before since it seemed out of the question with them both being guys, but with this new revelation he suddenly feels all funny inside. “Have...have you ever heard about a fairy and a… a human…?” he mumbles embarrassedly, staring at his tightly clasped hands. 

Óisín blinks a few times at the young man sitting next to him, considering the clearly personal question. "Yes …" he says carefully. "There have been stories of halflings… A few." He smiles again, patting the human's arm once more before getting back up. "Best speak to Prince Lyne about that, hm," he hastily says. "As for the other Fae, best leave them to it. They may act a bit ehm… feral," he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, laughing. "Please give my son my best wishes. And tell him to visit when  _ things _ have settled down again." He makes a short bow to Phineas and is on his way before the young man can ask more.

Finn sits there for a while, kind of dumb struck. He watches the two fae walk off together, hands entwined. He doesn't really see them though. His mind is elsewhere. He had never really thought about becoming a dad. He had thought about war and how to lead it and hopefully survive it together with his husband. But having children - little fairies - together had never occured in their life planning before.  _ I must talk with him about it. What if it happens accidentally? It apparently could work between a fairy and a human _ . He feels his heart beat faster at the thought, his ley line rolling confused at his feet as he gets up too.  _ Maybe I ask Seb a few more questions?  _

+++

Roark's jaw hurts from the tight grimace he's had for the last two days. He can see the same discomfort in his older brother as they ride back towards the edge of the Wilds and curses himself for having made this trip this close to Beltane. In truth he had entirely forgotten that it is the Centennial. That is until his hormones had started playing havoc with his brain about halfway through trying to explain the joint proposal of the Summer and Winter courts to their baby brother. He felt intoxicated. Physically hot and even more argumentative than usual. And horny beyond all reason. Being away from his husband was utter torture. He could see the same shifty discomfort in Sláine. 

Lugh was lucky; he hadn't come into season yet and it would likely be another century before he would suffer this torture every hundred years. He had witnessed his brothers' hopeless attempts to stay focused with growing bemusement, purposefully asking stupid questions and dragging out the negotiations, of that Roark had been convinced. Until the Prince of Air and Darkness could stand it no more and had stormed out of the large tent to find a quiet place to take the edge of his heat. 

_ Finn…  _ His head was filled with his man even more so than normal. He could smell him if he closed his eyes. His body, his sweat, his sex …  _ Stop it!  _ he silently growls to himself, not wanting to endure the rest of their horse-back journey with a hard-on. 

"It is about time that we finally arrive home," Sláine mutters, half of him wanting his brother to hear it and the other half hardly caring that Roark is riding by his side. He's never felt this out of place before. This on edge, this  _ aroused  _ for no reason at all. In all the millenia the Beltane Centennial never brought his blood to boiling point as it did now. He had always been able to keep those, for him, senseless mating rituals under control by sternly ignoring them, locking himself away in his rooms until the feeling had passed again. This time though, he has a mate. And now, whenever he thinks about Sebastian, his love, his prince, his cock starts to ache and his palms are getting sweaty. His normally hidden wings, which he had almost completely forgotten about, emerged, even through his clothing, with a vehemence that took his breath away. They pull at his skin as if they are even more eager to get to Seb than he is, right now lifting him, right out of his saddle, and he curses, feeling utterly ridiculous. 

"Yes," Roark croaks, for once agreeing wholeheartedly with his brother, whose voice sounds strangely hoarser and deeper than usual. He throws a glance at Sláine, catching sight of his impressive wings; larger than most and shining bright with reds and gold displaying his power and status with a cacophony of signs to all that he is ready to mate. He cannot recall when he had last seen his brother in all of his virile glory like this; if ever! Sebastian has definitely brought out something that Sláine had tried very hard to suppress over the years and if it wasn't for his own discomfort he would smirk at it. 

His own wings, deep purple and midnight blue with a dusting of silver like a night sky, signal his own sexual potency no less obviously and he wants to drown himself with embarrassment that he finds himself in this state so far from home and the safety of his private chambers. The last time he had come into season he and Edward had locked themselves away for nigh a week and his ears still burn when he thinks about the utterly wild primal sex they had had, only interrupted to sleep and occasionally eat or drink something. But whilst his suitor had been keen that they could create a royal heir, the sex, no matter how wild and desperate, never reached a point beyond temporary bodily satisfaction. It didn't stop the exhausting heat that kept him hard for days. And despite his hormones responding to their natural call, their glamor never sparked and fused for he did not love Edward. 

He loves Phineas Smith. Finn however, despite now wielding the greatest power in the Faerie bar the royal line themselves, is a human. His true love. His beloved and his consort. And if he had been of fairy descent, his true mate. But without glamor  _ that _ will never happen for them, no matter how much their love flames. He sighs, gritting his teeth once more and clenching the reins hard. He had never yearned for anything more during the Beltane Centennial than to quench his heat. And he hadn’t thought that this time would be different since he had chosen to marry a human. Yet this time his heat feels different. And as he glances at this brother again, knowing exactly what and who is on  _ his _ mind, he feels a strange sting in his gut.  _ Sebastian is the Green Man. Does that matter at all?  _ He's pretty certain of the answer though. Seb is also Fae, of both Seelie and Unseelie blood. And as he looks at the gold markings snaking over Sláine's hands and wrists he knows that his brother is going home to Seb to mate. 

Roark cannot stand it any longer as his thoughts are slowly driving him mad and he puts his heels into his horse's flank encouraging her into a fast gallop to at least have this tortuous journey over with. 

Sláine grins as his brother takes off so quickly, letting him swallow the dust of the hooves of his horse. He’s got his own wings under control again and gallops after his sibling, for a split second appreciating what they have achieved over the last weeks and how much that had brought them together again, starting to glue the deep rift that had driven them apart thanks to their mother. 

But nature overrules his calm and level thinking as a politician again and he groans as the force of pure  _ need  _ hits him hard in strong waves. He urges his horse to go faster, his wings helping to speed it on. “I’m coming, Seb,” the innuendo makes him grin wickedly. “My love.” That new expression had been foreign to him for all his life until he met the nephew of Oberon and Titania of the Seelie court and fell head over heels in love. 

+++

Finn feels his ley line stir first before he sees them. He turns his head briefly away from Orla with whom he was having a conversation about crops. Orla doesn’t appear to be affected by the strange season, thankfully, and after the conversation with Seb's father Finn can deduce that only the younger Fae - if one could count several millennia as young! - suffer this phenomenon. 

He gets up and walks to the window. He has a hard time to keep his mouth from gaping as he sees the two Unseelie princes in the distance, galloping over the top of the hill. His heart rate speeds up as he recognises his husband riding towards him, his stunningly beautiful wings on full display. It appears as if the majestic dark-blue fairy assets are helping his horse to go faster. Phineas feels a very broad grin form on his face. Roark rarely shows his wings, but thanks to Sebastian's father he now has a good idea that this display must be somehow related to the Fae's mating season. And it sends exciting flutters of anticipation through him. 

Then his eyes catch sight of Roark’s brother and the enormity of his bronze and dark red fairy wings makes him gasp. “Wow!” escapes him as he sees the reds and orange aflame in the afternoon sun.

“Seb!” he calls loudly, “you better come down here! You gotta see  _ this! _ ” 

Orla winks at him as she turns to tend to her business in the kitchen, leaving him with the biggest grin and crossed arms over his chest, awaiting his man. 

Sebastian storms down the stairs, almost running straight into Finn in his rush. He too had seen the pending arrival through the window and more importantly had _ felt  _ his love approaching. This isn't his first season by far, but he's never felt this agitated by the Beltane Centennial before. Horny, yes, but this is very different. He feels a physical ache to have Sláine with him, holding him,  _ mating _ with him! "Thank the goddess, he's here!" he utters breathlessly, throwing open the door as he feels the buzz in his body at the sight of his mate in his beautiful showy display. As soon as he is outside his own wings unfold with a snap, showing a dazzling display of emerald greens. He is normally not this ignorant or rude towards his best friend, but right now he only has eyes and attention for one. "Sláine!" he calls to his husband, sprinting and half fluttering down the path towards him.

“My love! Finally!” Sláine half jumps half flies from his horse, still behind Roark but running the rest of the way to be with his prince, to gather him in his arms and kiss him wildly. “You’re beautiful,” he gasps between nipping at his lips and at the skin of his neck. “I have missed you so much, my Sebastian.” His large wings wrap them both into a cocoon so they’re hidden from the other two as they glance at one another, their foreheads touching. 

Roark slows his horse and smiles a tight smile when he sees Finn following Sebastian out of the far too modest dwelling for two Fae princes in his opinion. He dismounts before his husband, and gives a fleeting brush of his lips over Finn's. "Have you packed?" He pulls himself back quickly, brushing past Finn as he stalks towards the house. "We're going home," he adds curtly before disappearing inside.

Finn frowns. His heart and his ley line had been frolicking so much at seeing his husband’s full glory, expecting a similar greeting as Seb and Sláine had given each other, that he now feels like a bucket of cold water has been thrown over him. “Packed? What?!” Phineas feels like he’s been sent back in time and to Campus. Back to the days when Prince Lyne had done everything in his power to push him away and make his life a misery; all just to hide his true feelings from him.  _ Is that what he is doing now? Fuck’s sake!  _ He storms after his husband. “Roark!

"What?" Roark replies curtly as he pulls Finn's suitcase off the wardrobe. "I'm tired, I've had a long journey and I want to get back home." His eyes scan the room for things to pack. "Besides,  _ they _ won't want us hanging around here at the moment," he adds sourly, his wings vibrating with irritation.

Finn crosses his arms and watches the wild, chaotic and so not Roark-like act of packing. After a few moments of being ignored he steps towards his husband and grabs him by the arms so he must look at him. “How about,  _ I  _ have missed you?” He wants to say more but the cold blaze in his man’s eyes shocks him. He moves one of his hands quickly towards the rim of one of Roark’s wings and touches it with his fingertips while pressing his mouth to those tempting, tight lips. Roark’s glamor is instantly up to the challenge, greeting the ley line in a wild dance, but he feels that there is something not right with his lover and he steps back again, fixing those cool eyes with his in a silent question.

"Don't, Smith!" Roark recoils from the touch to his sensitive wings, acutely aware he hasn't called his husband that since before their handfasting. He curses both the aching hardness pressing against his fairy slacks that do nothing much to hide his state of arousal and Finn for just making things all the worse. He pulls hard on his glamor, like a dog on a leash, peeling away the connection with the ley line as his icy walls shoot up.

"For fuck's sake, Lyne! What is the matter with you?" Finn hisses, well aware that they're not in their own quarters but feeling extremely hurt by the use of his human surname, creating this chasm between them again. The ley line makes a strange mewling noise as Roark pulls his glamor away and up around him to cut him off from seeing any real emotion in his features. He  _ hates _ it when Roark does that, not knowing what is truly behind that magickal mask of ice-cool control. "Using glamor with me? Seriously?!" He crosses his arms again and plants his feet firmly in the floor, refusing to budge as Roark flusters around him, pulling items of clothing into the suitcase. 

"Yes, using glamor to protect you from making a fool of yourself!"  _ And of me! _ Roark snaps, as he shuts the suitcase forcefully, staring back at Finn but keeping the distance between them and his mask firmly in place.

"A…" Finn was going to ask  _ what?  _ yet again but realises that would sound foolish indeed. He decides to change tactics. "Would you care to enlighten me on what occured on your journey that makes you so furious,  _ Prince  _ Lyne?!"

"Nothing happened on my journey," Roark shakes his head, pushing the suitcase towards Finn. "The negotiations with Lugh went fine." He takes a deep breath as he sees the hurt and confusion in his husband's eyes and forces himself to relax a little, despite the black blood rushing through him like a wild river. He drags his fingers through his hair, looking up at Finn as he takes a very tentative step forward and allows himself to run his fingertips over Finn's broad chest. "I missed you too," he says softly. "I … just want to go home. Please," he adds to show his consort that he's not just being an asshole. "It's not good for me to stay here, in the Summer Court. Not whilst…" he bites his lip and draws back his hand. "I just need to be home," he says again. "Will you please come with me?"

After two times _ please  _ in a row and a heartfelt change of attitude, Finn nods, somehow sensing that it has something to do with those brilliant wings on display. "Alright," he grumbles, "my winter prince," he cannot help but add, his anger dissolving slowly. He grabs the other suitcase and stuffs their remaining things into it, hoping his man will explain the unspoken parts of the sentence to him as soon as they're in their cool spacious quarters at Queen Mab's court.

"Thank you," Roark sighs in relief, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from everything that is Phineas Smith; his athletic body pressing against his fine tunic, his thin trousers temptingly outlining his endowment, and his scent … Roark sways and has to take a step back to steady himself as the heady masculine familiar scent of his mate sends his head spinning again. "Can you use the ley line to get back to our Sìdhe?" he forces the strangled question out, already feeling himself fall apart into a heap of black wings and feathers.

“Yes,” Finn sees his partner change into his raven form before his eyes and fly out of the window in a flurry of half a dozen birds. He sighs, looking at the unmade - and unused! - bed.  _ Well, that did not go as expected!  _ Some days he still feels like he does not know his husband at all. 

He has a quick look around the cozy room they shared for a while as Sebastian's guests, snatches his phone from the nightstand and opens the door.  _ Duty calls, _ he tells himself, pushing the two modern suitcases out of the door. He considers to say his goodbyes to both his best friend and his brother in law but the unmistakable noises he hears from the living room makes him think the better of it. 

Instead he waves to Orla in the kitchen. "We're leaving on urgent business. It was very nice here, Orla, thank you for all your efforts." He doesn't wait for an answer. The tense behaviour of his husband is urgent business indeed and he doesn't want to lose one second to find out what's behind all this after all. When he grabs their luggage, imagining the big study in their living space at the winter court, his last thought before the rushing heat of the ley line takes over is, _maybe I_ _needed wings for that Beltane Centennial greeting ceremony too?_


	2. Chapter 2

"Goddess…." Seb pants as he is lifted off his feet by his lover in a flurry of limbs and needy kisses and wings and struggling attempts to shed their remaining clothes. "I missed you! I NEED you!" He folds his arms tightly around Sláine's neck and bruises their lips together hungrily.

"It was torture! I wanted to be here with you," Sláine gasps back, his hands cupping Seb’s arse so the younger prince can wrap his legs around his hips. "Need you NOW!" he looks into his lover’s wide blown pupils, fumbling with his own cock, his wings flapping agitatedly.

"Yes!!" Seb mewls, desperately manoeuvring himself so that his lover can push into him. He throws back his head, feeling the brush of the membrane of his own wings against his hair. When his desperate need is finally answered he moans loudly, his whole body glowing with the energy of his glamor.

"Oh my Seb!" the prince of earth and ruin moans as he owns his man, enjoying the exquisite pressure of Sebastian's inner muscles around his hyper sensitive cock. His glamor erupts around them, mingling with the green man's massive power. The whole room is pure energy, green and red and orange cascades of light. Sláine has never experienced something like this before. The room feels way too small, way too confining. He needs _air!_ He cradles Seb into his arms and takes two steps towards the backdoor, kicking it open with his foot. As soon as they have stumbled into the back garden he lets his enormous wings lift them into the air, Seb’s stunning green wings aiding their flight, through the lush canopy of trees, high and higher into the blue summer sky.

Sebastian feels like he's having another out of body experience, the way he's lifted so easily into the air, his own wings taking to the new ethereal experience as if they know no differently, adding to their sky high dance as Sláine drives himself into him. Higher and higher until he thinks they will surely reach the top of the Sìdhe soon. He laughs and moans and kisses Sláine hard and deep, keeping his legs firmly wrapped around his waist.

They finally slow their ascend and hover suspended in the thin air above while Sláine makes slow and powerful love to him. When he tilts their position so that the Unseelie prince is above him as were they lying in their soft and warm bed far down below,, Sebastian can finally admire those beautiful powerful wings of his lover as they flutter in the same steady but powerful rhythm of his thrusts. "You are … breathtaking…" he sighs in pure happiness that fills every pore of his being. 

“So ...are you, my beautiful prince,” Sláine says softly between their kisses. He wants to drown in those brown eyes that gaze back at him with so much love. The warm breeze around them finally cools his overheated skin and he turns them around again, so Seb is on top of him. He stops moving inside, just holding them together, his wings balancing them in the air. He’s never felt such freedom ever in the Winter Court. He’s never felt his wings _like that!_ Didn’t know they could support them like this. Never tried. He always saw them as a fanciful accessory, but could do without them. But not anymore. Not after experiencing _THIS!_

Seb gives all of himself to his mate, feeling the powerful build up of their sexual energy tangible in the sparking of their glamor around them. They've had wonderful, hot, romantic, loving, explosive sex every time before and Seb has never felt so perfectly tuned in to a bed partner. But _this_ is something else altogether! This feels like he's rooted into Sláine's steadfast earth magick, their glamor melting together and beginning to form something entirely new. This feels like old, ancient magick, more powerful than anything he had experienced before. All consuming. Renewing. A heat building in his core that threatens to consume him whole in an almost frightening way. And yet as he stares into Sláine's eyes he only feels love and trust and never wanting to let go. He rolls his hips slowly, watching Sláine's expression change to something both very familiar and uniquely new all at once when he shudders and gasps on the brink of his orgasm. 

Sláine is completely lost in Sebastian’s whole being. He feels absorbed by the Green Man’s power but also empowered beyond measure. He laughs and cries at the same time, reaching for Seb’s proud cock to help him over the edge with him while their wings and glamor let them dance their mating ritual across the sky. 

And then his orgasm hits him hard, exploding out of him and Seb and the world as they know it ceases to exist. 

+++ 

The suitcases thud hard onto the floor as Finn almost lands in the bathtub. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. “When will I ever learn to land precisely?” he chides himself. He rubs his neck and straightens himself up. 

“Roark?” he asks hesitantly. He had expected to hear his husband's footfall, pacing back and forth in the adjacent room after he’d left the Seelie Court so agitatedly, but he only hears a soft rustling. _Did he choose to wait in our bed after all?_ he suddenly thinks excitedly. It would make sense that Roark would not want to have that wild _feral_ sex under the roof of his brother and Seb and that that was the reason for needing to get back here so very urgently. He feels his heart beat faster at the prospect, already picturing his handsome lover naked and ready for him as he quickly throws off his boots and steps bare foot into the sleeping area, pulling at his belt … but stopping short when he sees what’s on the big bed. 

Seven ravens. 

_What in the name of hell?!_

He’s known his husband for almost ten years now and he’s never experienced something like this. Roark had disappeared as the birds, yes. But he’s never ever stayed in their form after he came back. No matter how angry or pissed or loved up he was with Phineas, he’d always chosen the form of the man. 

The Winter Knight slowly steps towards the bed, his undressing abandoned, his heart pounding in his chest at the sight. _Maybe something went wrong and he can’t turn back?_ He feels a panicked stab at his heart at that thought. 

“Babe?” he carefully sits on the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair, feeling very cold suddenly after the long weeks in the summer court and the sight of his scattered husband. “Are you alright?” he asks, feeling a little ridiculous to be talking to a murder of ravens, but not knowing what else to do. He holds out a hand to one of the beautiful creatures and after a moment dares to stroke over those gleaming black feathers super lightly. The ley line reacts just as confused as him and he feels how it builds a protective circle around the bed, warmth humming and glowing slightly. 

_Warmth. Comfort. Familiar. Voice. Finn._

Roark's consciousness feels a million miles away. His primary instincts are right at the fore, focused on food and safety and shelter and …. There was something else. Something very important. But it's scattered between the corvids. He wants to focus on one, but another takes his concentration away.

_Finn._

That sound keeps ringing in his mind and it seems to connect to the human who is reaching out to him. He moves closer, tentatively, wary, ready to fly up again if the human makes a sudden move that could be a threat. 

_Finn._

He doesn't seem to be a threat. Rather he feels warm and safe and familiar.

Phineas holds out a flat, open hand to one of the birds. _Something isn't right. Should I ask for help? Bridged or even the Queen? No! He's MY husband and I need to figure this out on my own. He said everything went well with Lugh and yet here he is, the General of the Winter Court, scattered into birds._ The sentence Roark hadn't finished earlier is still stuck in Phinea's head. _Not whilst… Not whilst what?_

“I must admit that I'm at a loss here, Lyne. You've always helped me at Mather’s with these magick things, even though I never really realised it." He ever so slowly leans forward to half sit on the edge and half lie on his stomach, staring the closest bird into its black eyes. "Can you give me a hint here please?" He has the oddest feeling that Roark is staring right back at him. 

_Finn._

The raven closest to Finn pecks gently at his fingers. 

Finn.

Roark pulls on his glamor, his consciousness flooding back to him in a bone-breaking rush.

"Finn." He blinks at the man staring intently into his eyes, his own a cool grey like a winter sky once more. "You made it back..." _And you are breathtaking..._ Almost instantly upon returning to his human form and seeing his husband look at him with such care and worry, that throbbing natural drive stirs inside him again and a soft almost pained moan escapes him. 

"Roark!" the big wave of relief that washes over Finn at the sight of the ravens joining into the man, his shimmering wings the only proof that he's a fairy. "Of course I did, why wouldn't I?"

"You were gone for two days!" Roark scolds, but he pulls Finn close. "I looked everywhere for you. I was getting worried!" He kisses his husband's lips hard, cupping his face in his hands. "You're here. And you're safe." 

"T...two days?!" Phineas grabs for Roark's forearms. "I left Seb's house just moments after you," he frowns, stealing a kiss from those sometimes infuriating lips too. "I swear I did not end up on an icy mountain top this time or in the middle of snowy trees," he frowns hard.

Roark frowns too at these strange comments but then shakes his head. "There's still so much you don't understand about the Faerie. Things here aren't like in your world," he says rather sharply, pulling away again and making to get up off the bed.

"Explain it to me then!" Finn says just as sharply, grabbing for Roark's arm before he can disappear on him again. "I came here in times of war. I must still learn about faery day to day life." Even though he feels his own anger rise he quickly presses a kiss onto the back of his husband's hand where the lines of their fastening are clearly visible. "As you know, there is that what is written in the books and then there is that what only some can read between the lines." He looks at his love from under his lashes.

Roark narrows his eyes but doesn't move away again. "Time doesn't pass the same way here. Space is different. The quantum mechanics of your human world don't apply here," he shrugs. "I thought you knew that." 

"That's not what I mean, _Prince Lyne_ ," Phineas half smiles and half scolds, "and you know it. Don't change the subject." He grabs his man quickly to lie down on the bed, side by side, facing each other, so that Roark's beautiful wings fold neatly behind him . He caresses strands of hair out of Roark's eyes as he starts to talk. "During these last days in the Summer Court I witnessed a big change in the Fae there. All the younger Fae suddenly had these beautifully coloured wings out. I saw them snogging out in the open, which they generally don't do. I saw two physically fight over a third," he pauses for a moment to gather his thoughts and rub his hand over Roark's arm. "Plus Seb was restless, kinda out of his mind, not able to think straight. Now first I thought it's a Seelie thing but then I saw you both coming back, your brother's wings on display, _your_ wings on display, which you _never_ have." He skimms his index finger carefully over the rim of the shivering body parts which he loves so much but are always hidden, bracing himself for Roark to push him away again but to his relief he doesn’t. "And then both of them were all over each other within moments…" he suddenly stops abruptly, letting go of his husband, and lies on his back, staring at the ceiling. "And yet you seemed far from happy to see me. What am I missing here?" He deliberately doesn't tell about the conversation he had with Sebastian's father. He wants to hear from his partner what exactly is going on. 

Roark flushes a rather human shade of pink that he isn't quick enough to hide with his glamor. "It's … Ehm … it's Beltane. The Beltane Centennial. It … does things to us Fae folk." Roark feels even more conscious of his dark, translucent wings slowly opening and closing on his back as he pushes himself up on his elbow.

"I…" Finn turns again, shimmying closer to his husband so he can get his fingertips onto that intriguing flexible membrane, but he changes his mind. Roark still is hiding the truth. "I heard that during the Beltane Centennial the Fae are able to mate and produce offspring…" he lets the words hang in the air, expecting for his ice prince to jump up again and hide his too-overwhelming feelings deep inside of him again. 

Roark's mouth falls open in utter astonishment that Phineas knows that much. "Did Sebastian tell you that?" he croaks hoarsely.

Finn shakes his head, glad that his husband is still by his side, and he reaches for his hand. "His dad did when I wanted to break up a fight between two fairies." He lifts Roark's fingers up to his mouth and presses his lips against his knuckles, his eyes searching for his man's. 

Roark snorts at that, remembering all too well the times Phineas had interfered with fairy matters before, including the time he had to dish out some public punishment and Finn just could not help himself to challenge his authority without having any idea what he was getting himself involved in. "You're an idiot," he grins fondly. "And very talented at getting yourself in trouble with my kind." His face turns serious again though and his glamor slides back in place. "In any case, it doesn't matter. You're human and you don't have to worry about that. And that's fine with me. I don't need …" he shrugs, not finishing his sentence. "It's fine, Finn." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finn frowns. "I don't have to worry about what? I see Fae beating each other up over a potential mate! I see my best friend, who’s normally the most grounded and chilled guy I know, strut around like a broody hen! And when _his_ husband arrives home they are practically tearing the clothes off each other there and then! Yet _my_ husband can barely bring himself to touch me. What's that about? I thought this whole thing was supposed to make you horny!" 

Roark stares at Finn tirading at him. "It … does," he cringes.

"Then what? Am I no longer attractive to you now, because I'm _too human?!_ " 

In truth Roark had worried about that briefly, that his fairy hormones would betray him like that. But as soon as he had laid eyes on his husband again he knew that could not be further from the truth. Finn sets him _on fire!_ "No!" he states firmly, grabbing Finn's hands. "You are my consort and I am so in love with you! You have never looked more attractive to me than you do right now, do you understand?!" He lets his glamor slide off him so Finn can glimpse his truth in every muscle and pore and hair. "You _are_ my mate." 

Finn feels breathless from these strong declarations of love. "Then … why? I don't understand… Why won't you touch me like that? Why then aren't we having the best sex ever right now?" he blinks stupidly. 

Roark swallows. "Because … because it's not real. I didn't want to have sex with you just because I can't control myself! I … I thought I was doing the right thing," he sighs, slowly realising that yet again he might have misjudged the situation. He might be a brilliant strategist and commander, but he really sucks when it comes to matters of the heart! "You're not Fae. I didn't want to insult you like that. To … use you. You're far too precious to me, Phineas Smith. It's like … that time that you were drunk and you wanted to sleep with me. This time _I_ am the one not entirely sober because of this damned season! I won't do that to you," he resolutely shakes his head. "Ever."

Phineas stares at his husband in complete disbelief. "You fucking idiot," he shakes his head too, laughing. "Really Lyne, I don't give a fuck _why_ you're horny. As long as you're horny for _me…_!" He grabs his husband by the back of his neck and kisses him long and deep, breathing into his mouth as he rubs his hand over Roark's thigh, hoping that the other won't fly off again in a cloud of feathers.

Roark groans softly into the heated kiss, his barely held together resolve crumbling fast. "Finn…" he complains feebly, whilst his rapidly growing erection already begs for more. 

"Shut up, Roark," Finn pants against his neck, kissing him just as feverishly there when he allows his man his breath. "I might not be Fae, but damn I want you right now," he murmurs, slowly letting his hand travel to the inside of Roark's thigh, expecting to be sent flying at any moment. When he isn't pushed away though, he takes that as approval and begins to palm his lover through his slacks.

"Oh Finn…." Roark seems to be lost for words as he finally lets his husband close and take charge. He relaxes his taut muscles and forces his reservations to the back of his mind. 

"Good?" Finn whispers against Roark's lips, wondering how to do this without squashing those beautiful delicate wings.

"Yes…" the unseelie prince croaks, reaching for the button on Finn's trousers now.

"You ehm… want to be on top?" Finn bites his lip. "Because of your wings…" he motions. "I guess you can't glamor them away right now?" 

Roark rolls his eyes. "No," he sighs, frustrated to not have any control over them either at this particular time. He answers the first question by pushing Finn onto his back, pulling open his trousers and sliding his sleek cool hand inside. 

"Oh yes!" Finn beams that he's managed to convince Roark to let go of his inhibitions. "Fuck, you're hot, babe!" 

Roark smiles up at Finn through his lashes, letting the heat course through him freely now. It's dizzying, intoxicating. The blood rushes in his ears and Finn is so beautiful and so alive with the glow of his ley line. He tears off his shirt, which has already been ripped by those darned wings anyway. And he only lets go of Finn to pull off his socks and trousers and underwear, watching Finn undress just as hastily.

"Do ehm…" Finn stutters just as Roark is about to climb on top of him. "Do you want us to use protection?" he blurts out, suddenly feeling his cheeks flush as if they're about to do it for the first time again.

"What?" Roark blinks, not comprehending the question. 

"Do you want me to use a condom?" Finn flusters. When Roark still looks at him with confusion in his eyes, since after all they have not used condoms since their wedding night, he adds with a bright red face, feeling utterly ridiculous to ask his _husband_ this, "I mean, with the mating season and all … Can you … Could you …" 

"Can I what, Smith?" Roark says sharply when his consort isn't spitting out the words.

"Can you get pregnant?" Finn squeaks.

Roark feels his eyes widen. Then he smirks. "It doesn't work like that. I mean, not _just_ like that. With us Fae … you need glamor for that to happen." 

"But Oisín told me of humans and Fae who had been able to have children…" Finn protests.

Roark rolls his eyes at the old man speaking out of turn. “Stories,” he shakes his head. “Myths. _If_ it ever happened, then according to those stories it was only ever Fae men being able to somehow get human females pregnant. And the halflings were human, with only some very faint connections to their magickal lineage. Humans cannot get faeries pregnant. And I cannot get you pregnant. This will not happen for us, Finn. That's what I meant when I said that you don't have to worry about that. And that I'm fine with that. You are still my mate, my one true love." He reaches out to stroke a hand through Finn's now slightly longer hair, which is more in the style of the unseelie. "You are all I'll ever need."

"Oh," Phineas says softly, feeling utterly overwhelmed by so many feelings and revelations. 

"Oh?" 

It hasn't gone unnoticed that all of their talking has wilted both their cocks. Roark sighs deeply and lies himself back down on his front, across Finn's chest. "You … wanted to have a baby with me?" he asks unsurely. 

"I...to be honest, I hadn't really thought about that yet," Phineas cards his fingers through Roark's auburn shimmering hair and very gently over his slightly, almost calmly moving wings. "Would you like to have one with me, if it would be possible?" he exhales, very glad they're on proper speaking terms again; not the guessing game. The fact that they are talking about having a child together is mind-boggling though. _Mum would be so delighted!_ jumps into his head all of a sudden and a smirk crosses over his features. 

Roark raises his head slowly, looking into his husband's soft blue eyes. "I… don't know. It's not possible anyway. If it was … Maybe," he says with a soft smile. _This is crazy!_

 _"_ Hmmm," Phineas’ fingertips caress Roark’s cheek and then slowly wander to his shoulder, "let's have this mind blowing, centennial fairy sex anyway, husband. I know you crave it," he winks. “As do I!” The ley line dances gently along those illuminescent wings, outlining them. 

Roark blinks in surprise, his emotions all over the place. But the gentle touches and the ley line caressing his wings like a warm summer breeze are tempting him. And when Finn begins to rock against him, his erection growing hard against Roark's skin, he surrenders to his partner. "Mind-blowing fairy sex?" he grins, retaking his earlier position, grabbing the lube. "Seems like you are rather affected by the pheromones in the air yourself, my knight!" 

"Fuck yes! And all those weeks of waiting for you,” Finn helps Roark to get into the position of riding him, slicking up his partner's entrance and his own, needy cock. "I think I can relate to high fairy arousal," he laughs playfully now.

Roark bites his lip, feeling his own inner heat return when Phineas rubs his hole with slippery fingers, his regrown hardon jutting up proudly from between his thighs. "You're gorgeous when you're horny," he groans as he guides his man's hot weapon towards his entrance.

“Damn, so are you!” Finn adores his sexy prince. He loves when he loses a bit of his inhibitions. He silently begs that he might get all wild on him as Sláine and Seb did together. He wants to feel that centennial fairy hornieness. He puts his slippery hand teasingly around Roark’s beautiful sword just as the other sinks onto him and a loud groan escapes him.

"Fuck…!" Roark gasps, the combination of the slick hand on his dick and the welcome pain-pleasure stretch of his most intimate place threatens to black out his brain. He leans himself back a little, his fingers digging into his partner's muscled thighs, his cock rising up even more. "Finn, oh fuck!" Something stirs deep inside his core that feels new and thrilling, but doesn't quite seem ready to blossom just yet. He welcomes the fluttering sensation though as he searches for the perfect angle to stimulate his prostate.

"Yes, my General, rotate your hips like that!" Phineas encourages his husband, his tongue getting loose when he's drunk with love for his Fae. "Hmmm… my cock likes this a lot!" He gasps, grasping Roark's dick harder, letting his thumb slide over that tempting slit on the crown. He concentrates on the ley line a little and sends it up into Roark's body, teasing, warming, flirting. 

Roark feels the quiver in his wings when Phineas pleases him with the warm liquid-like sensation of the ley line. Only a handful of human years ago Finn was still incinerating saplings with his uncontrolled magick. Now his relationship with his ley line is so refined that he is able to trickle it into his body through his tight channel. "Finn," he gasps both in ecstacy and in warning… He isn't sure how his body is going to react to the heat of the mating season. With another Fae he had had no such concerns as he had known that his partner was of equal magickal strength and invulnerability as him. With Finn he's still learning what both the ley line and his mother's injection of magick into the Winter Knight mean for his physicality and just how much like the Fae he is now. 

Roark’s wings are fluttering excitedly, sending a cool breeze into the room. "I love your wings so much, baby!" Finn groans as he sees them move into action. He stares at them and Roark's face in turn as he presses his manhood more and more into his prince's hot hole, until he bottoms out with a loud, "Fuck!" His fingers grasp both Roark's asscheek and his rod firmly. "You wanna give me a furious ride?" he inclines his head, licking his bottom lip and winking.

Roark can feel the pull of his wings. They humm like a swarm of agitated bees and he has absolutely no conscious control over them, just a very primal instinct. When his lover bottoms out, making his glamor flare and hiss like a coal fire, he is lifted slowly off his hot ride. In a desperate effort not to lose his husband from that wonderful stretch within he leans forward wrapping his legs and his arms tight around his beloved. 

Finn has the surreal feeling that he gets lifted off the bed for a moment. He thrusts into his man now forcefully but slowly, enjoying every second of it, each hot inch for each hot inch. “You’re delicious, baby,” he rasps before capturing Roark’s mouth with his in a demanding lip lock. He clasps both hands onto that fine arse that clenches around his dick, guiding them together, heat meeting excited coolness as Roark’s glamor seems to weave a cocoon around them. 

With Edward there was the combined strength of both their wings, which outside the mating season are barely of any aviating use. Roark is completely taken by surprise therefore when his delicate but stubborn mating accessories combined with his glamor shooting out from him in icy waves manage to lift the both of them off the bed. He feels utterly exhilarated, his glamor spinning a fine silvery web around them that keeps them glued together. "Finn!" he moans, rocking his hips again and again, each careful, pushed together thrust making the room glow with an icy blue and a warm yellow from their combined power. 

“Oh Ro… Roark, that’s…” Phineas pauses for a moment as he realises that they’re really hovering above the bed. “Can...can I move?” he whispers, sliding his fingertips over the base of these intriguingly strong wings which look so delicate but seem to lift them both up at the moment. He feels like his back is a whole new erogenous zone now, like Roark’s glamor caresses him too and supports him at the same time. _True Magick!_

"Yes," Roark nods. He trusts in his glamor now to keep them both lifted, even if it's only a few inches off the bed, and loosens his iron grip a little, tentatively releasing one hand to cup Finn's face, caressing him, loving him. "I love you so," he gleams, drowning in those clear blue oceans staring back at him in wonder. 

Phineas mirrors the gesture. “I love you too, my husband,” he croaks. Their airborne lovemaking is the utmost imaginary sensation. It feels like a state between dreaming and waking. His cock is trembling inside of Roark, his nerve endings singing and humming. “You’re so very beautiful,” he can’t say it often enough, slowly starting to rock upwards again, seeing the slightest of flushes on Roark’s cheeks. _Adorable!_

"Close… I'm close," the Prince of Air and Darkness huffs a laboured breath. He feels like he's having an out of body experience and yet he feels so connected to his love, his mate. _Not enough space!_ somewhere in his subconscious his frustration rumbles though. His skin itches, his wings continue that almost angry humm. He wants to soar! To take his mate high into the air, where they can truly let go of all of their bounds and embrace his true nature. He arches up, both hands letting go of Finn now, leaving him suspended by his glamor and their joining hips only. "Finn!" 

Finn feels the cum erupt out of his mate and splatter on his chest accompanied by a very uncharacteristic cry from Roark, almost like a raven song. It hurls Finn over the edge too even without much thrusting on his part. It’s so primal and vulnerable and _true!_ “Oh my Roark,” he moans, shooting his load into that quivering channel, his hands rubbing up and down his partner’s slender back, across his wings and over his neck. 

Roark's brain feels cloudy, his body utterly buzzing with his glamor's reaction to Finn's ley line and his shudders inside of him and those hands stimulating his oh so sensitive wings. He is breathless and his arms and legs feel like jelly. 

Slowly his wings slow their frantic flutter and their temporary suspension touches back down in soft black sheets and pillows. 

Phineas is the one now who wraps his arms and legs around his prince, keeping him on top of him and so very close for as long as possible, squishing his cum between their stomachs. “Wow, babe, that was something else,” he gasps into Roark’s sweat stained hair. “Hmmm,” he adds appreciatively, too exhausted and wrung out to say much more, just breathing in the scents of the aftermath of their mating. 

Roark wants to lie in his love's arms like they often do after sex, drowsy and spent. But he still feels like there are beetles crawling under his skin and despite his exhaustion he feels agitated and restless. His instinct is to jump up, but he forces himself not to just run off again without an explanation. "Glad you enjoyed it," he murmurs softly, pressing a kiss to Finn's red lips. "I … I think I need some air." 

"Air?" Finn looks puzzled into those steely silver eyes when his husband is halfway up already. Roark has never expressed that after their love making so far. _He's the Prince of AIR after all though, does that somehow come into play with this mating thing also?_ Suddenly enough thought comes to him and he feels very selfish. "Did… did _you_ enjoy it?" he lifts himself on his elbows. The ley line buzzes around him as if Roark's restlessness is contagious. 

"What?" Roark is already on the edge of the bed, pulling on his trousers. Finn had never asked him that before; there was never any need for he had always made it plenty clear how much he enjoyed having sex with his husband. "Yes, of course," he frowns as he buttons up his trousers. But he knows he isn't being entirely truthful. The sex was as great as ever. But to his growing frustration it had not satisfied him, despite his explosive orgasm. Deep down, despite all of his poetic words of how he was fine with the situation, he had hoped that at least Finn would be able to somehow satisfy this itch for a while. That it would be different with him, since he truly loves him deeply. Yet that churning in his gut is still there. That gnawing feeling that he needs _more_ , that it wasn't enough! It makes him want to draw his rapier and hack off those damned wings as if that would somehow stop the crawling inside his blood. "I …" he swallows hard.

Finn sits up now, sensing that half of Roark wants to disappear into that flock of ravens again he had found him in earlier. He lies his hand lightly onto his man’s arm. “Talk to me, please,” he whispers. “I’ve learned that these are different times around Beltane in the Faerie,” he swallows, “I’d like to understand you, my love.” 

"I don't know how … I don't really know what I'm feeling myself," Roark sighs. He isn't exactly someone at ease with talking about his feelings. It was so much easier when he had shut all his emotions behind an icy wall of arrogance before. Right now he feels raw and vulnerable and there is nothing that makes him feel worse. "I loved the sex," he reasures. He reaches for Phineas' hand. "Of course I did, my love, sex with you is perfect!" He forces a smile. "I need a moment to gather my thoughts. Maybe …" he sighs, hanging his head a little, "maybe it is better if I stay away for a few days. Until _this_ ," he motions angrily to his body which feels so alien to him right now, "returns to normality. Please don't take it personal, Finn. It isn't." he gently caresses his husband's cheek. 

_I wish I could just Google it_ , jumps into Finn’s head. “You…” _did just stay away for weeks!_ He almost blurts out but bites his tongue because it feels quite childish. “Alright, if you think so,” he says sadly, leaning in and brushing his lips softly over Roark’s. “Maybe we should freshen up a bit first though?” he gestures towards his soiled stomach, smiling. 

Roark manages a smile and returns the soft kiss, but ignores the invitation. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he says. And with that he's gone again in a rush of black feathers.

Finn sighs, rubbing his hands over his face. His feeble attempt of trying to get Roark to have a bath with him failed. _Of course a raven doesn't have cum stains on his feathers._ He flops back into the pillows, contemplating the situation, feeling very frustrated that he cannot help his husband with this. If only Roark would not be so damned stubborn and just talk with him! 

He grabs his phone from the night stand and turns it on, wondering if Seb is in some sound state yet to talk to since he doesn’t know who else to ask. Writing a text can’t hurt, he decides and he starts to type.


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian had been a little surprised to find that Finny and Roark had left without saying goodbye. But then again he and Sláine had been otherwise engaged and he could imagine that Roark wanted to have some intimate time with his husband as much as Seb had wanted to with Sláine. Now he's lying on his stomach in the grass, his wings resting easily on his back, whilst Sláine is bathing in the shallow pool. Seb enjoys the view from here as his mate shakes the droplets off his own impressive wings, flapping them to air-dry them. Little rivulets of clear water are running down his muscular torso and back into the pool where the water meets his waist.  _ He's gorgeous _ , he muses with a wide grin plastered across his face. These last few days since they had been reunited had been a literal whirlwind of passionate love making high into the clouds. Sebastian had never felt anything like it before; neither the maddening heat that drove them into these sky high mating dances nor the incredible way they had felt afterwards. The Beltane Centennials had always been times of lots of wild sex, but this had been something entirely different. This had taken them well beyond normal intercourse, with their glamor hissing and sparking, until finally, finally!, when they were both near collapsing from the exhausting flights, they felt sated.

He takes a slow, content breath as his eyes flick over again at the softly glowing chrysalis inside the protective ball of green and brown pulsing light. He still cannot believe that they were able to create something like this together, formed by their joining and fusing glamor. He feels such a pure joy and deep love as he stares in awe at the growing outcome of their mating. 

When his human-world mobile phone vibrates next to him it's so at odds with the magick of the moment that it makes him jump in fright. 

He swipes his password and smiles when he sees it is a message from Finny. 

~  _ Hey, I'm great thanks! How's things with you? I assume you've had a wild couple of days ;D xx ~ _ , he types back, grinning as he presses send. 

Finn stares at the screen and sighs, still not sure what he really wants to write. He has so many questions in his head but he doesn’t want to embarrass Roark, knowing he and Seb don’t get along so well. 

He types and deletes and types again until he settles on ~  _ Yes, but something isn’t working right. I’ve got the impression that I, as a human, can’t relate to what a fairy really feels during this festival. I tried to Google it but of course I didn’t find any answer. Might I ask you for a bit of an elaboration? What is the reason for this restlessness, even after sex? ~ _

He doesn’t think about it yet again and just hits the send button, his heart pounding in his chest. He feels very vulnerable to share such intimate details, knowing Roark is a very private person when it comes to these things. But as his husband has once again taken off, leaving him with yet more questions, he has to turn to someone else who knows about these things. 

Sebastian bites his lip as he reads the message twice. Whilst he and Finny had shared plenty of amorous adventures during those few years at Mather’s when they had become close friends - even though Finny's adventures weren't anywhere as numerous or wild as his own - they had never spoken about anything more intimate between him and Roark than that they'd kissed. Despite being Unseelie, the Prince of Air and Darkness is an extremely private Fae with walls as thick as glaciers. Finny even mentioning sex, let alone ask for advice, is both unusual and disconcerting.

~  _ Restlessness? Ehm well … ~ _

Shit, this is fucking awkward! Sebastian wants to roll onto his back but remembers his wings and instead pushes himself to sitting. ~  _ it's fairy mating season,  _ he decides to say vaguely until he better understands where Finny is coming from. ~  _ Everything okay between you two? _ ~

Finn shakes his head as if Seb could see him. He briefly thinks about calling but quickly dismisses the thought. That would be even more awkward. He just types back, ~ _ I know it is. This is the first time ever I wished I'd be a fairy too. I think I'm not enough for him. ~ _

"Oh shit," Sebastian sits up straight now, blinking at the screen. He throws a quick glance at Sláine and sees him making back towards the shore. He's very aware that Finny isn't just his best friend, but also that Finny's husband is Sláine's baby brother. _There has to be a word that's even more awkward than awkward!_ he thinks, groaning. 

~  _ Buddy, I'll never really understand Roark, but one thing I know without any doubt, he absolutely adores you! You are his soulmate! Have you forgotten everything that asshole risked for you, including ME?! ~  _ He knows he shouldn't press send having written that last bit, but part of him is still bruised about how Roark used him as a disposable pawn in his war plans and he can't help himself. In any case, Finny needs to be reminded of that fact and not think stupid things. 

Finn grins involuntarily at that response. _And it made you the happiest man...no fairy...no damn, THE GREEN MAN!_ he thinks. _Seb has changed from the student he knew into a prince, the heir of the Seelie Court AND their source of power. And also his brother-in-law. And_ I _AM the Winter Knight of the Unseelie Court, damn it. And I love Roark! Why can’t I meet his needs? We’ve been through so much together. I saved his life before and he mine on so many occasions. This should be easy, surely. There must be a way I can figure this out!_

It’s like the ley line hums its agreement. As he contemplates his options yet again he feels it spiraling around in him and around him at a dizzying speed, making the hairs on his arms and at his neck stand up. “What are you trying to tell me?” he asks his power, but gets no sensible response from that either, just a deep buzzing, swirling feeling, as if his ley line is just as confused and agitated as Roark was. “Well, you are no help!” he snaps, getting rather annoyed with the temper tantrums of magickal beings right now. 

~  _ Alright, you got a point. But Roark has left again and I don’t know what to do. I can’t seem to scratch that itch for him. It’s like something is missing.~  _ He stops typing abruptly.  _ Wings!  _ It has to be something to do with those wings that all the younger Fae are suddenly parading around with. Suddenly he remembers that crazy moment where they had been lifted off the bed by Roark’s wings during their love making.  _ ~ These wings … Does he want to fly with me? ~ _

“You seem very preoccupied, my love,” Sláine smiles as he catches his man off guard, staring at the little flat, black human device. He bends down and kisses Sebastian onto the top of his head, before laying down on his side, using the other’s thigh as a cushion for his cheek, facing their little beautiful miracle. The moss is soft and warm and he hums contentedly, feeling completely at ease; something he hadn’t felt for a very, very long time. 

Sebastian absentmindedly rakes his fingers through Sláine's dark brown locks. At reading Finny's last message an intense sadness has filled up his chest and tightened his throat. He looks at their beautiful creation again and wonders what in the name of the goddess he can possible say to that? He can only go by his own experience now that Sláine is in his life, which has completely changed the Beltane festival for him.  _ But Sláine is Fae! _ Still, can it be that Roark feels the same? That he doesn't just want sex; now that he has found and has married his true love, he wants to mate?  _ Damn. _ He thinks about these last few days with Sláine and their crazy mating flights high into the skies. They had not thought or talked about it; it just happened, their bodies including their wings acting on pure instinct. Nature’s call.  _ No wonder Roark is going crazy!  _

~  _ Oh Finny, I'm sorry. I hadn't thought about what this means for you two. I didn't think of you two also wanting to have children. I am sorry if I was being insensitive.~ _

“Everything alright? You look worried,” Sláine murmurs, stroking one finger over Sebastian’s hairy shin. The upper wings moving in unison with his mate’s giving them some air in the summer humidity. He loves that about his husband. That he’s there for his friends. After becoming the Green Man Seb had thought he must break with the other world he lived in for so long, but he found out that he didn’t have to do that. So he got this fancy box to stay in contact with Phineas Smith and the other beings he had befriended there. 

Sebastian hesitates briefly whether to tell Sláine. But he keeps no secrets from his husband and whilst he values Finny's privacy, he doesn't feel like he owes Roark anything. "I'm not sure," he says softly, looking into Sláine's warm chestnut eyes. "It's your brother…" he says tentatively. _Maybe he can talk to Roark_? 

Sláine frowns.”Roark? What did he do?" he asks, catching Seb's hand to kiss his palm softly. "Or maybe rather  _ not  _ do?" 

+++

_ Do we want to have kids? Do we have to decide this NOW?  _ Finn’s head spins as he soaks in the hot bath Bridghed had prepared for him.  _ Is this why Roark is so intolerable? Is this behaviour an indication that yes, he's ready to make a baby even if his mind stubbornly keeps saying that “he is fine with not being able to have them with me?” Does he want to after all? What if he has gone to find another fae …?  _ He bites his lip so hard that he can taste blood.  _ No. No, Roark would not do that, of that he is absolutely certain _ , he reminds himself as he studies the beautiful swirling lines etched into his wrist.  _ Will this  _ thing _ creating this rift between us go away again after Beltane? Or will he always resent the fact that I cannot give him children? _

He dunks his head under the water as if that would somehow clear his swirling thoughts. But he cannot help but come back to wondering,  _ What  _ if  _ we could though? I am not a normal human, Roark has reminded me of that enough times himself! I have the ley line and that is surely affected by this whole situation! _ He can feel its constant buzz under his skin.  _ And I  _ AM  _ the Winter Knight. Can’t Mab’s magick help us in this situation?  _

“Damn,” he bolts up straight, making the water splash over the sides onto the black stone.  _ Am I actually contemplating this? But what would it be? A human fae? A fae human? Is it dangerous for the little one to be a halfling?  _

He finally pulls himself out of the tub and slings a towel around his waist, feeling almost as restless and confused as Roark now. He dries his hands on his towel and grabs for his phone, reading Seb’s last message again. 

_ ~ It’s ok,  _ he decides to reassure Seb.  _ ~ I still don’t think I understand it though. This is surely an awkward question, but I have never seen a pregnant fairy. How does it work?! Sorry for being so ignorant. I truly am an idiot. Marrying a fae and not knowing how these things work. ~ _

+++

Seb blinks at the new message and then looks back at Sláine who has now pushed himself up and looks at him with concern. "Ehm … I think … Your brother seems to be struggling with his husband being a human. With the mating season and all…" He drags his hand through his own hair, wondering how to respond to Finny.

“Oh right,” Sláine is still getting used to the fact that the man he had been ordered to torture and who had been the reason for his utter fallout with his favourite brother is now his-brother in-law and the  _ Winter Knight.  _ And yet his own husband, the  _ Green Man,  _ is sitting here, communicating with him via a very strange human device. “But he is no ordinary human,” Sláine muses. “This incredible power of his must be useful for something else but war?” He lets his wings touch Seb’s gently as they sit side by side.

"Hmm." Sebastian hadn't thought about that. "You think …? But he doesn't have glamor. Not truly." Seb threats his fingers through Sláine's and rests his head on his shoulders, looking again at their incredible miracle. "Or wings," he sighs. "Finny is asking about how we … How us Fae …" He chuckles. "I don't even know myself!" He stretches out his free hand towards the light orb cradling their precious offspring and lets a fine tendril of his glamor gently caress the shining globe, adding a little more glamor to its surface. 

The Prince of Earth and Ruin mingles his own powerful glamor with his husband’s and smiles, studying the precious result of their mating ritual. “As you told me, my love, the two of them have made plans over plans for war. Don’t you think they can figure this private riddle out for themselves as well?” In truth he feels a little selfish here, wanting to spend more time with Sebastian alone, since he never really has him for himself these days, building a new Seelie Court and all that. He inclines his head, looking at his handsome profile sideways. 

"I guess you're right," Sebastian nods. He doesn't like to be so unhelpful when Finny is asking him for advice, but he isn't able to offer much wisdom for their very unique situation anyway. 

_ ~ I'm not sure I can explain it ~,  _ he types slowly. Part of him desperately wants to share his own miracle with Finny and send him a picture, but that feels like rubbing salt into a wound right now.  _ ~ Faeries don't get pregnant like humans. We don’t carry them in our bellies like your females do. Our children come from the joining of our glamor. Have you tried talking to Roark about it? Btw you're NOT an idiot. Except for falling in love with Roark maybe ;) ~  _ he tries to lighten the tone of his message a little, feeling like he's letting his best friend down. 

He puts his phone away with a little heaviness in his heart, but cuddles back up into Sláine's arms, pressing a soft kiss to his scarred cheek whilst whispering, "Love you." 

+++

_ Our children come from the joining of our glamor.  _ Finn sighs, rubbing a hand over his face.  _ Roark had said something similar. _ _ Well, I don’t have glamor, not really. I guess the ley line doesn’t count here. No children for us then. But do I really want that responsibility? A year ago I didn't think I'd survive the next few weeks. Now I'm thinking about children.  _

_ Roark! What are you thinking about the matter or can you not think straight at the moment? _

Finn thinks back at how Seb was so very agitated and he and Sláine were all over each other as soon as the winter court princes were back. 

He grabs his phone again and only types,

~  _ Did you create one? ~ _


	4. Chapter 4

Roark allows his human form to join together again. He had been flying for he doesn't even know how long; it feels like days, but it can only have been hours. It had been bliss to just soar on the updrafts. Let the wind carry his scattered body and mind alike. No worries but keeping safe from bigger birds than him and finding food and enjoying pretty shiny things. And not that maddening faery mating call.

He brushes off his clothes and hoists himself onto a ledge. Least it's quiet here. He doesn't know exactly where _here_ is though. He hadn't travelled with any purpose, just followed his instinct. He just knows he's somewhere at the far edge of the Sìdhe, a long way from the court, where the subterranean Faerie sparkles with giant crystals, lining the giant caverns spiralling high towards the sky.

 _Sky_ …

Roark feels the urge to flap his wings as he stares up into the distant heights. 

_Height…_

_Stop it!_ He curses angrily, pulling himself to his feet again, pacing. What's the point? Even if he were to bring Finn here, his husband doesn't have any glamor or wings and… _What the … ?!_ Roark frowns at this confusing internal dialogue. He doesn't want children. Or… _Do I?_ Clearly his body has its own agenda set. But it's only the heat of the moment. On the other hand, it would be another century before he comes into season again. And he has Finn now… Finn, who hadn't outright denied that he wanted to have a child with him. 

"Fuck."

He stares up into the distance above again, taking in the mystical beauty of the enormous cave reaching to the skies. He pulls on his glamor to summon light and sends a little ball of it upwards, feeding it with more glamor, watching it grow and brighten. The light is instantly reflected by thousands of crystals of a dazzling array of colours, the light bouncing from one to another through rainbow prisms.

_It's beautiful._

+++

Seb lies on his back in bed, listening to Sláine's soft comforting snoring whilst their youngling grows inside the pulsing orb nestled on a bed of moss and ferns beside the bed. Both their wings have faded away now, which he believes to be a good sign for their child. They've fulfilled their purpose. 

_Did you create one?_ He hadn't immediately responded to Finny, still feeling unsure and strangely over protective about their miracle. The other side of him, though, wants to proudly show off, now that he feels sure the youngling is growing, rapidly. 

_~ Yes :D ~_ he types back, hoping that Finn will be happy for him and not just hurt. Then he adds hesitantly, _~ Would you like to see? ~_

~ _Congratulations!_ Phineas feels genuinely happy for his best friend. _Of course I'd like to see, if you can show me?? ~_ He sends the message, glad for the distraction because Roark still hasn't come back yet. He's even had a look through the amazingly large Play Station game collection Roark had shown him briefly, hidden in the wall behind his armour display. At least that provided some momentary reprieve from worrying about restless, grumpy Roark. _Give him a break!_ he scolds himself. 

Sebastian bites his lip as he looks over to Sláine, who looks so peaceful next to him. Then he quietly slips out of bed so not to wake his sleeping husband and carefully pulls on the orb with his glamor to carry it with him downstairs. 

Once in the kitchen he turns on the hob to boil a kettle for a cup of tea before pressing the video call button on his phone. 

Finn is very surprised as he sees Seb's call sign flash up on his phone. He almost hadn't caught it, as he had been immersed in his computer game. "Hello!" he smiles towards Seb as he takes the call.

"Hey!" Sebastian grins back at the screen. "What you up to? Is Roark with you?"

Finn shakes his head, taking off his gaming headphones. "He's taken a flight, so to speak," he tries not to sigh too forlornly.

"Ah." Seb pours the hot water onto some herbs, breathing in the earthy smell. "I'm sure he's fine," he tries reassuringly. "And is only a few more days, anyway, before all the Faerie will be back to normal." He looks back at the screen, and Finny's worried expression. "Are _you_ okay?"

“I’m fine,” Phineas answers instinctively, trying to play over his insecurities with this. “You wanted to show me something,” he changes the subject. “I’m so excited for you!” _and Slaine._ He can’t bring himself to say it though. Too deep is the wound in his body and his brain of the man who’d tortured him. 

"Yeah," Sebastian beams. "I ..." He shuts his mouth though, not really knowing what to say, but letting their miracle speak for itself. "Here." He turns the phone camera to the orb, which is now about the size of a football. "Can you see it?" he asks the back of his phone.

“Oh my god, it’s beautiful!” Phineas exclaims. “It looks nothing like a baby though,” he laughs, embarrassed about being so clueless. “These colours, just wow!” he’s really astonished. “And it’s… you can carry it around?” He feels a bit stupid for not knowing anything. But how should he know really? _I really ought to talk with my husband more_ _about these sorts of things_ _._ He scratches his chin. _But we didn’t even think beyond me being the Winter Court’s Knight…_ _everyone expected my personality to change, dissolve into a puppet … and probably to die. But here I am. Same old Phineas Smith that I was when Roark and I met._ He suddenly remembers that he’s talking to Seb on the phone. 

"Yes," Sebastian glows with pride and love as he himself steps back into the picture, keeping his precious orb close to him. "I'm not sure if you can see beyond the light…" he chats since Finny appears genuinely interested despite his own challenging situation. "The orb is just glamor. Protection. Mine and Sláine's combined. Like a womb. The _waen_ is inside the orb. It's still growing inside its _cochall_. Like an ehm… chrysalis I guess in your tongue. Like a butterfly," he smiles fondly. 

“It looks like a miracle!” Phineas murmurs softly, as if not to disturb the little beautiful thing. He leans over the phone to see better. “Thank you for explaining it all to me,” he drags his hand over his face, getting thoughtful yet again. When Seb and Roark have been talking about how the Fae needed glamor to create their offspring he had not truly understood what they meant. Now though he can see that really fairy pregnancy is _nothing_ like the human version. “I don’t think I have any chance to create something like that.” At these words he feels an angry rattle inside his very core, the sleeping ley line suddenly making itself known. _No, I don’t think you can help me with THAT!_ he tries to think soothingly. 

Sebastian sighs, feeling Finny's disappointment. "Not all Fae can either," he tries to soothe so that Finny doesn't feel like this is all his 'fault' for being human. "In fact, we're not a particularly fertile race. Only for a few weeks every hundred years and then you need to have glamor compatibility… I'm sure Roark isn't upset with you over it, Finny. He isn't exactly the father type anyway," he clutches at straws now to make his best friend feel better. "And he'll be back to his usual," _grumpy,_ "self in a few days," he smiles warmly at the screen. 

“Yeah,” Finn stands up to get rid of the churning feeling in his gut and lets the ley line flood through him and around him, wondering what’s gotten into it. “Thank you, buddy, for lifting my spirits,” he smiles into the camera, carrying it around as he paces. “And thank you for sharing your…. _wean_ ,” he makes a point of using the right fae word, “with me. How long does it take to … what does it do? Come out like a butterfly?” he looks sheepishly at his friend. “I’m sorry if I ask too many questions,” he chuckles, torn between being excited about all these new things he’s learning and disappointed that it gets later and later and still no sign of his husband. 

"Not at all!" Sebastian says quickly, happy that his best friend wants to know more. "I like you asking these questions." He sips his tea and then says, "They will emerge when ready. In human timescales… about a month." He yawns, realising how late it is. "I'll be honest, I don't know much more than that either," he blushes a little. "It's not something the Fae talk about much or that they teach their children. It kind of just … happens, I guess." He looks fondly at the pulsing ball of light again as the powerful magick feeds the tiny faery baby within.

Finn instantly feels a bit better when the other man tells him that fae don’t talk much about it. So it wasn’t necessarily a Roark thing but a fairy in general thing. _Just a month!_ he thinks but decides to not bother his friend with even more questions since he can see how tired he looks. “Thank you so much, Seb,” he says grateful. “I feel very honoured that you let me have a glimpse of your miracle. I wish you all the best!” 

"My pleasure. Thank you too. Can't wait to introduce you!" Seb thinks for a second, before saying, for his friend's sake, "I hope Roark comes back soon. Try not to worry. He can look after himself, you know," he winks.

“Yeah, I know,” Finn sighs anyway, “I guess we better sleep now.” He grins, waving at the ball of glowing light. “Good night, Seb and little Sebling!” 

+++

Finn tosses and turns, unable to sleep. Tonight is the third night in a row that Roark hasn't come home and despite Seb's reassurances that Roark can look after himself and just needs some space until the Faerie returns to normal, he cannot help but worry about his husband. The other part of him is angry. They'd agreed to talk things through. Roark had promised to not just run stroke fly off. If he needed space all he needed to do was say so! But he's heard nothing! He had tried ringing Roark's phone, but found that he'd left it behind in his bedside drawer. He had even tried to find him with his leyline, but Roark appeared to have cut off his glamor from him. 

"Asshole!" he curses out loud, throwing the covers off, and slides out of the bed, his bare feet touching the cool polished stone beneath him. It makes him shiver and so he sends a little of the ley line warmth into the obsidian stones until they feel warm to the soles of his feet. 

He pulls on his jogging trousers and a jersey, contemplating whether to play another video game or make himself a cup of tea and maybe read a book. His mind is whirling far too much though and he decides he needs some air. It is at times like these that he really misses home; where he could have gone outside into the fields, or sit under the apple trees. At times like these the Unseelie Sìdhe feels like it's weighing down on him and he can sympathise with his brothers-in-law - Sláine who decided to move to the open fields of the Summer Court and Lugh who prefers the Wylds. Those thoughts do nothing to improve his mood with Roark right now though, when he thinks about how much he had sacrificed for him when Roark cannot even be bothered to let him know where he's gone. 

As he walks through the long empty corridors he even briefly considers speaking to Mab to ask if she knows where her son is, but he dismisses that thought just as quickly. If Roark wants to be alone during this fairy mating season, sending his mother after him is probably not going to help them return to marital bliss. 

He carries on walking through the dimly lit Sìdhe. It's quieter now that many students have returned to Mathers - although all of the faeries are back at the Courts for Beltane - but away from the royal quarters the halls are still lively. It's well past midnight, but many of the Unseelie beings occupying these halls are nocturnal. It makes sense really, with Mab being the Queen of Air and Darkness after all. He passes a group of buttery sprites who are far too busy arguing over something, which Finn cannot be sure to be a pet or food, to notice him. And he jolts in fright when a _dunede_ appears out of the wall right beside him but moves on about its business after nodding a polite greeting to the Winter Knight. 

Even now, after the war and having lived by Roark's side for a few years now, Phineas still cannot get used to being treated like some kind of - no wait, _actual_ royalty! 

He quickly hurries on, out of the Sìdhe proper and into the wild gardens beyond. They aren't as nice as his mother's garden back in the human world or Seb's stunningly colourful rose gardens in the Seelie Sìdhe. Here in the Winter Court it's always twilight, with its overriding colours being muted shades of blue, purple and grey. It's beautiful in its own way, if not a little creepy. _That_ at least he's gotten used to after living with the unseelie for years. 

He sits himself down on a little bench in the shadows of a large crooked apple tree that droops heavy with mistletoe, pulling his legs up to his chest, feeling a little lost and lonely. He doesn't want to wallow, but he misses his husband, no matter how annoyed he is with him. His ley line curls itself around his chest as if in a warm, caring embrace. _It's alright. He's alright. He'll be back soon._ "Thanks," he whispers, forcing a smile.

When he hears cawing up above him his heart makes an excited jump but sinks when he sees it's just a curious crow.

"Can you still not find him?" he asks the ley line for the oomptieth time, worried that he's starting to piss it off before long. But before he gets an answer from his power source he yelps as an icy sharpness flares in his left arm. 

He pulls up his sleeve and stares in shock at the silver handfasting marks in his skin. The lines that bind him to Roark Tham Lyne pulse with a blue silver light. "Roark?" Phineas sits bolt upright now and he feels the ley line spark with excitement too. Another icy flare courses through his forearm, which feels undoubtedly like his husband's glamor. "Roark, where the fuck are you?!" he hisses to his forearm, talking to the glowing lines like they are a telephone line.

"Can you find him now?" he pleads with the ley line when his bindings don't tell him any more. 

_Yes!_

His ley line nudges Finn to stand up, seemingly all the time communicating with Roark’s pulsing glamor in his forearm. He steps out of the broad branches of the apple tree, absolutely in wonder about the glittering and pulsing of his binding patterns. He never thought they'd come to life again; that they actually formed a magickal connection to his husband. He always thought they'd be only for the wedding ceremony. 

“And now?” he asks the swirling heat that bounces excitedly around him. “What? I can’t see him? Is he here? Is …” He suddenly is pushed forward into the wet dewy grass by the sheer power of the ley line sparking with his connection to Roark. “Whoah, cut it out!” he shouts, scrambling back to his knees. He frowns, brushing the dirt of his hands, swatting at the ley line as it continues to buzz in his ear like an insect. “Just sto…!” He stops mid sentence as he looks up. The gardens seem to have shifted, which in itself is not unusual. He knows by now that things here that seem solid one moment can shift and change and reform and it is easy to lose one’s way in the Faerie. The tall hawthorn hedge that had previously blocked his view, now has formed into an arch and as he gazes through it he sees the outline of what appears to be a huge mountain in the distance that he swears he's never seen before.

“There?!” he blinks, pulling himself to his feet. “Is he _there_?!”

He feels the ley line getting ready to wrap him up to bring him there. "No," he shakes his head, "not so quick.” He remembers all too well Roark’s comment that the last time he had travelled from the Seelie Sìdhe he had lost two whole days somewhere in his journey through faery space and time and he cannot afford to make that mistake again. “Go slower, so I can see where we are going." The lines in his arm and his power seem to make an impatient noise in unison and he chuckles as he's lifted up, not in usual breathtaking high speed but slow enough so he can still see his surroundings. 

His heart is thrumming in his throat as he thinks about the fact that his husband seems to have made up his mind and finally wants to meet up with him again; in whatever circumstance that might be. Not that he isn’t still pissed with him, but the relief of finding him right now outweighs the argument that will likely follow. 

Once the leyline has taken him over the autumn coloured forest that lies between the gardens and the mountain top, the crackling of the beautifully woven binding lines gets more and more erratic, much like a geiger counter detecting large amounts of radiation. _Shit, is he okay?!_ he starts to panic a little about this strange phenomenon. What if this is his bindings telling him that something has happened to Roark. “Get me down!” he tells him ley line, his heart speeding up as it puts him on his feet in front of a large dark lake, decorated richly with dark purple water lilies. Behind it the large mountain looms. 

"You sure about this?" Phineas asks his power doubtfully but then he feels a slight icy breeze again and sees a path out of ice appear over the surface. He gasps, "You've got to be kidding me!" But as he says it the path manifests. _Go!_ the ley line hums in his ears. _Come_ , the deep markings in his forearm seem to beckon him to step forward. He ruffles his hair unsurely, looking around for another way around but there is none. 

He hesitantly takes the first step, tries if his husband's glamour holds, and when he's satisfied that it does, he takes the next. When he's far into the lake he realises that the path disappears behind him again and he swallows audibly. "Alright, Prince Lyne, I trust you,” he talks encouragingly to himself, setting one foot before the next, firm and steady. His ley line swirls around him until it suddenly shoots forward. The base of the mountain rises before him from the lake is set in the middle of the water. Finn prepares instinctively for battle, expecting a sea monster or something but as he looks at the solid rock, the ley line appears to outline a rectangular shape in the rock face. _A hidden door? Come on, quit the dramatics, Lyne!_ Finn studies the magickal patterns for a moment, recognising the similarities between them and the lines on his and Roark’s wrist. He tentatively lies both palms against the cold surface and his bindings combine with the ley line in a beautiful cascade of sparks. With that the doorway opens abruptly and he tumbles inside. 

Finn barely has time to steady his footing when he sees a familiar pair of boots step into his vision. No, not step … As he follows the feet up to the man he finds Roark hovering before him, his beautiful dark wings flapping steadily, holding him up off the ground. 

"Took you long enough!" Finn grinds out angrily, even though his body thrumms with relief and fondness at the breathtakìng sight of his love, unharmed although clearly still under this seasonal influence. 

Roark swoops forward and onto him like a bird of prey, pinning a startled Finn underneath him. "Shut up," he huffs, the physical ache intensifying even more at the sight of his mate. 

_Alright!_ To shut them both up the Winter Knight grabs his prince by the back of his neck and crushes their mouths together in an angry, bruising kiss. His other hand grabs Roark at the base of his wings while the ley line hisses and fizzes confused around them, trying to coax Roark’s glamor into a playful dance. 

Roark gasps and moans into Finn's hard, punishing kiss, whilst grinding his hips down to meet his lover's need. Like before, his wings pull at his back, encouraged by the hands stroking the place where they meet his spine.

"Wait…" he pants when their tongues momentarily stop their hungry exchange as if he is coming back to his senses again. “I …”

Finn stops but doesn’t let go one inch, so he can stare into those crystal clear eyes from up close. He bumps his groin up into Roark’s. “What, Lyne? Just _stop_ overthinking for one fucking moment, will you? We managed to survive all of those monsters and the whole of Goodfellow’s armies, and yet _this_ is the thing that puts the fear of god into you? _Goddess_ ,” he mumbles, still trying to adjust his language to the Faerie. “Why is this so hard for you?!”

Roark blinks in surprise at the reprimand and then laughs deep in his throat. "You're… " He sighs, shaking his head. "Oh Finn … I need you so much right now," he blurts out. "I've never felt like _this_ before," he admits. "I don't know what's going on. Like I …" He looks up at the cavernous space towering up above them, his wings flapping like crazy again.

“Like you want to fly up there with me?” Finn still holds his man as tight as possible, wrapping his legs around his as he caresses his cheek. The confession is warming him up. The ley line buzzes and swarms around them now, painting Roark’s pale features with a warm glow. 

Roark sighs forlornly. "I can't… I can't carry us both, Finn. It's … okay. It's why I didn't reach out before. Why I stayed away. It's not fair on you. Let's… Just hold me… Please." He rests his head on Finn's broad chest, trying to find some calm from listening to his familiar heartbeat.

Phineas breathes deeply and wraps himself carefully around Roark. His power is doing joyful circles around them and then wires itself up with both Roark’s and his marital bindings. _I_ can _fly!_ He suddenly realises, as he thinks about how the ley line brought him here. His ley line seems to shout _YES!_ at him for finally understanding what it had been trying to tell him all along. _Alright, let’s show him then._ His ley line tumbles and swirls with excitement and Finn smiles when he feels lifted up again, off the stony ground and slowly up into the air. 

“I’m so in love with you, Roark,” he whispers, trusting once more in the ancient wisdom of his power as it takes them higher into the air. “I need you so much too,” he cards his fingers through those blue black strands of hair, inhaling his mate’s familiar scent. 

Roark's eyes grow wide in disbelief when he feels the weightlessness, whilst his wings delight in the unexpected aid, adding to the lift as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "Finn …?" he whispers, almost afraid to distract his husband in case it sends them crashing back down towards the stony ground beneath. But the ley line and his own wings don't waver, instead carrying them higher and higher. He dares a smile, stroking his own fingers along the nape of Finn's neck. "How…?"

The prince consort marvels in the combined strength of their power. “I guess my power isn’t only useful for battle…” he trails off, smirking. “And despite me being human, the ley line knows _exactly_ what to do!” One of his hands cupping Roark’s firm arse cheek. 

"I see," Roark smirks too. _Phineas Smith. His stunning human husband who never stops to surprise him. Incredible …. Astonishing!_

As Roark gets used to the sensation and learns to trust in his consort's ability to lift them into the air using his incredible well of raw power, he relaxes and gives in to his own need. He loosens his grip little by little, testing, ready to grasp hold of Finn again if there is any risk to him not being able to hold himself up without the support of his own wings. When he is confident that the ley line indeed knows what it is doing he finally allows his fingers to pluck at Finn's shirt and trousers. 

"Finn," he says again, the name tasting as sweet as ever on his lips. "Are you sure… I … I don't know what will happen…" _If the ley line can do_ this, _what else is it capable of?!_ "What if …" he dares to think it could even be possible…

“What if we make a little fairy?” Phineas says breathlessly against his husband's mouth, taking his face gently between his hands, looking at him very intently. 

Roark looks back at his love with the same intensity. He nods very slowly. He had pushed that idea so far to the back of his mind, knowing, _thinking,_ that it simply would not be possible so what would be the point to even think about it. Now he only has moments to digest the possibility. "Yes?" is all he can say, his own thoughts and emotions racing through him at dizzying speed. _He came here when I reached out. He knows, even if remote, with what the ley line is doing now, there could be a chance..._ "What if we make a little fairy," he repeats softly, in awe that they're even having this conversation. 

“I’ve had enough time to think about it,” Finn smiles. “I’d be delighted to have one with you if it happens, my love.” He feels extreme flutters in his stomach as he says it and his power is surging with energy at the thought, interweaving itself even more with Roark’s glamor and his wings to support their upwards drift. Phineas has got the impression that he’s grown wings himself. It’s exhilarating to be consciously so high up in the air without anything to support him but magick. “I love you,” he breathes again against his husband’s lips. “I want this.”

Roark feels utterly light suddenly. "I want this too," he says before he can overthink this. Already he's used his glamor to shed his own garments whilst helping Finn out of his until they slide together in nothing but skin and magick and heat. "My love." He wraps himself around Phineas, holding him, embracing him, taking him. "My Finn," he says slowly, reverently as they join together in a dizzying upwards spiral. 

Finn completely trusts his ley line with this. They’ve figured this out like every other task they set their mind to after finding each other in the depths of the earth and his soul. He doesn’t need to give a thought to the mating ritual of flying up as high as possible. He can give his full attention to his beloved now, kissing his face, his neck, his shoulders, his torso. Letting his tongue travel over his arms and the majestically glowing lines of their bindings. The combination of flying and having his man wrapped around him, makes his head spin in the exciting waves of foreplay and love making. “This is magickal, you’re magickal,” he groans, letting his palms stroke gently over Roark’s steadily beating wings, admiring the soft glow they emanate. 

Roark soars on their mile high love making, like an out of body experience and yet so very intimately connected to the man he loves beyond anything in the Faerie and the human world beyond. His glamor turns the air around them to snow, creating a truly surreal setting against the backdrop of glowing crystals and fabulous auroras of light. He can still hardly believe that the ley line, once such a destructive force that his family relations had shattered over the fight to get their hands on that mighty weapon, now cocoons them in a warm light that carries them upward, boosting his wings despite his own cool glamor. 

"Finn," he murmurs that wonderful syllable again like a prayer, delighting in his consort's soft warm lips against his cool skin and the rhythmic thrusts into his body. His cock trembles between them, heavy and close to bursting. He can feel his husband is close too, so familiar they are now with the fine shifts in the way they move together, the hitches in Finn's breath, the dilation of his pupils when they gaze into each other's eyes. Roark holds the back of his head, his other hand stroking every part of his skin he can reach. "Come with me," he encourages hoarsely.

Phineas wants to come on Roark's voice alone. It has such a lusty, deep tembre he's never heard from his husband before. He makes slow love to his man, despite their rather swift journey upwards. He only has eyes for the utter beauty of his beloved which seems so different than before. He sees the true fairy this time, glowing from the inside out, seemingly delicate yet utterly strong. Roark had spoken in the ancient tongue without even noticing. His touches are gentle and demanding at the same time, hunger and want speaking as much as bone deep love. 

Finn grasps that iron hard rod between them to fulfill his prince's heartfelt plea. "Fuck, Roark!" he groans as he lets himself go, fire up into his body. "My _everything!"_

His people don't talk much about their mating rituals. Now Roark understands why. There simply are no words, no language to describe the unleashing of pure ancient magick that surges through them like a tsunami, threatening to tear their bodies to pieces and at the same time pressing them so close together that Roark is sure they are but one being made only of light and heat and energy. There is no consciousness anymore. No rational thought or intellect. This is just being one with life itself; the very origin of life in its true raw form of molecular power. All consuming heat fills the air, erupting like a volcano, shattering the crystals into millions of glass shards that rain down as the cave - or perhaps the whole world - collapses in on itself. 

And then all there is left is air and darkness …


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blessed Beltane everyone! 
> 
> We have now finished book 3 (amazing!!!), but have decided to finish posting this story as we originally wrote it, mostly as not to give away any spoilers for the finale.  
> Maybe for Beltane 2021 we will post a revised version ;)

Roark slowly opens his eyes. His body feels completely drained of glamor and he's utterly exhausted. He closes them again and snuggles up into the familiar warm embrace of his husband. Slowly the memories from before return to him. He has no idea how much time has passed since their wild mating flight. They flew! They truly flew together, making love high up in the air with the help of the ley line. His eyes spring open again as he remembers the sheer force of that ancient power as it was unleashed. But Finn looks whole and more beautiful than ever, glowing softly with the remnants of his magick. Or not … As he lifts his head and looks up he finds that the glow that slides over Phineas' handsome features isn't coming from the ley line, but from this softly humming ball of light by his head, pulsing hot yellow and icy blue. 

"Hmmmm," Finn is only able to humm in a way between utter exhaustion and utter fulfilment. His body feels like he's just fought another fairy war. At the same time his veins are pulsing and thrumming with energy and life; it feels like he's had a whole pot of his mother's strongest brew of coffee. 

He's hyper sensitively aware of Roark in his arms -  _ finally -  _ and he pulls him flush against his own naked form. 

"Oh!" he exclaims suddenly as the memory of their flight and the explosion come back to him in a rush. He groggily lifts his head to look at Roark since he felt him stirring too. "You alright?"

"Yes," Roark smiles up at Finn's sleepy smile. They've probably been sleeping for days he realises. "And you?"

"I'm… I'm not sure," Finn lets his head fall back, carding his fingers through Roark's now auburn hair. "I feel a bit upside down," he chuckles. "But, hmm, very good too. We both seem to still be in one piece at least." He lifts his head weakly again to press a kiss into his husband's hair. "Did I really fly with you?"

Roark nods against Finn's comfortable chest. Then he slowly stretches out a hand and instinctively reaches for the small glowing orb, feeling it connect with the scraps of glamor he's got left. He pulls it closer without physically touching it until it is in Finn's peripheral vision. He already feels a deep love and sense of protectiveness at the sight of it and knows that he would kill anyone on sight who even dares to think about threatening what they have made. 

Phineas feels emotional tears shoot into his eyes and his voice breaks as he asks, "By...by the winter court ..." He wipes at his face with the back of his hand. "Roark… is… isthatwhatIthink it is?" he swallows audibly as he finally realises that the ley line isn't humming contently  _ inside _ of him, but that it's wrapped gently around this luminescent golf ball of light. Sparkling and dancing together with Roark's glamor. _ Almost like Seb's… Did we really!?!  _

Roark pushes himself up a little so that he can place a gentle loving kiss to Finn's lips. "Looks like you're going to be a dad, Phineas Smith," he grins, still barely believing it himself. "Are… you okay with that?" he asks a little unsurely. They'd talked about it briefly but that was all hypothetical - and unlikely! - whilst in the thrall of their heat. Now though, the reality of what had seemed impossible throbs softly like the beating of their hearts. 

Finn sniffles and nods, kissing his fae back just as gently. "Are you?" He keeps staring at their creation. "Do… do you know what to do?" He wants to reach out to it but hesitates. "I… I can't believe we... It's so  _ beautiful!"  _

"I am okay with that," Roark feels flutters in his whole body when he looks from Finn to their creation and back to his husband's glowing face, so full of love and wonder. "Very much so." He slowly pulls the both of them to a sitting-position and wraps his legs around Finn, pulling the fairy egg between them, its vibrant colours painting light across their faces. He takes Finn's hands and holds them about an inch from the warm glow that sizzles each time the snow and ice from his own glamor drips into the liquid fire of Finn's ley line shell. "Looks like your ley line already knows exactly what to do."

“It’s a miracle,” Finn dares not to speak in his normal tone of voice. He holds his breath and studies how the ley line has created a protective shield around what’s inside, interwoven with some of Roark's icy glamor. “How…?” he shakes his head and bites his lip, moving his hands in the air around their love ball in a very reverent way, feeling the heat and the coolness in turn. 

"True fairy magick," Roark winks, admiring Phineas' fascination and concentration. "And a bit of human magick too it seems," he adds with a smile as he pulls himself to his feet and holds out his arm. He takes in their surroundings for the first time, noting that they are not anywhere near as far from home as he'd thought they were. There is no sign of the magickal place in which they had danced their mating flight together. Just a familiar glade in the woods behind the Unseelie Court. "Home?" he asks.

Finn lets himself be pulled up, his eyes not leaving the orb as it levitates slowly up too between them. “Human magick,” he chuckles and takes Roark’s hand so their binding lines fit together snuggly. They’re not glowing as vividly as they did before, but softly, sending out sparks of their own towards the fairy egg. As Phineas takes in Roark he first of all realises that his husband’s wings are gone now. And secondly that they’re both still stark naked. 

_ Can you get us home?  _ He asks his power in his mind.  _ Thank you for taking care of our...baby _ , he smiles. 

+++

Roark blinks in surprise when he sees where the ley line has taken them. The rushing feeling of their travel through space and time and into the human world has left him wobbly on his feet. He isn't used to traveling with the ley line's power -it's a little haphazard and undignified, spitting them out into the soil like a giant bird coughing up the bones of its prey- but he had no choice since his own glamor would take time recover after investing all of it into their miracle. He wonders at which point his mother will show up, sensing the imbalance. Then again, she must know the ritual well enough herself to understand its cause and perhaps that's why she has left them alone for now. 

His first thought, once he's pulled his mind back together, is for their precious fairy child. An anxiety that he's only ever felt for Phineas Smith whenever he found him in danger, clutches at his chest as he worries about the impact on their fragile offspring of their unexpected journey to the surface into the human world. But his tensed shoulders drop when his subdued glamor finds the little globe curled up against Finn's chest like a kitten. He feels a smile tug at his mouth at the sight. 

He pulls himself to his feet and brushes the dirt off his bare skin. Of course Finn would have meant  _ home  _ to be their private chambers in the Unseelie Court where they could have enjoyed a hot bath and fresh clothes before facing anyone. Now he finds himself faced with the prospect of greeting his in-laws with the news that they are becoming grandparents whilst being stark naked and covered in dust.  _ Oh Smith,  _ he rolls his eyes as his husband looks as confused about their Ianding place as he did. 

Despite his utter exhaustion he summons his greatly depleted source of power and lets his thin glamour nudge against his consort's ley line. There is hardly a dent in that enormous pool of seemingly infinite magick and once again he allows himself to marvel briefly at its potency. He politely asks for a little aid in the delicate situation. Since their binding the ley line has allowed him access to its power on occasion. He cannot wield it or bend it to his will; not like Finn can now. But he can restore a little of his own glamor with its raw energy; enough at least until his mother replenishes his power pool or it restores itself over time once back in the Sìdhe. I But this time the ley line refuses him, coiling itself protectively tighter around their premature hafling, refusing to give him anything. Roark's frown deepens and he huffs in frustration. 

"Smith," he barks, shaking his husband's shoulder. "Unless you want us to greet your parents like  _ this _ ," he motions to their naked bodies," please could you ask your ley line to give me a little help here so that I may restore some dignity to both of us," he grinds out his annoyance of having to beg for help. 

"What the fuck?"  _ My parents? _ Finn slowly sits up and feels little spiky stones dig into the skin of his arse. He looks at a naked, dusty Roark, bright midday sun letting his hair shine in a rich, dark brown. His expression is a mixture of concern, anger and … a new one,  _ fondness?  _ He instinctively had kind of cradled the little orb in his lap without actually touching it, as he sat up, feeling the ley line's protective hum around it. "Where…?" He still isn't used to travelling with his power and feels a laugh bubble up in his throat as he finally realises where they've landed. "I… I'm sorry," he chuckles and nudges the ley line with his mind,  _ help our husband with his glamor, don't be so skittish. We just made a BABY together! " _ I'm not sure how that happened… I said…"  _ Home. Of course this place still feels more like home than Roark's...OUR quarters in the Unseelie Court. " _ It was a misunderstanding," he gets up, grinning broadly at his flustered mate, holding out both hands to him. One to feed energy to his glamor and the other with the blue and golden shimmering ball of light hovering just above his palm. 

Roark's icy irritation melts when he sees that beautiful manifestation of their love pulse above Finn's held out palm. He smiles softly at his husband as the ley line feeds his glamor with an unusual warmth. As soon as he has enough power at his disposal he summons the illusion of clothes for both himself and his consort, which will at least see them through until they can pick up some of Finn's old clothes still back at his parents' house. 

"Are you ready for this?" he asks, nodding to their precious creation. He wonders how Phineas' parents will react to the bombshell that they are going to be grandparents. However, after their incredibly warm acceptance of him as their son-in-law he feels pretty sure they will welcome the news.

"I am!" Finn is yet again stunned at Roark's ability to create things out of nothing. It certainly looks like they're wearing their usual attire but it sure doesn't feel like it to him. 

"Are you, prince Lyne?" he half teases and half asks in earnest as he takes his husband's hand to walk up the rest of the driveway. He takes a few deep breaths of early summer air, absorbing the feeling of hot sun on his skin. He smiles as he sees Roark has conjured himself a pair of shades.  _ Home _ , he can't help thinking. But it's not only this place, it's the man whose hand he's holding and that new, precious addition to their relationship which makes his heart sing. 


	6. Chapter 6

"I can't believe what I'm seeing!" Mrs Smith wipes her hands quickly at her apron. She'd been briefly looking up from kneading the dough when she saw the two tall figures walking up their driveway, holding hands. "It's Finny!" She calls loudly into the house, not sure where she hears her husband rumage. "And Roark!" She feels her heart beating faster at the unexpected visitors.  _ Oh if only I’d known! What do I have in the pantry to make up a little festive lunch? They're princes after all! Oh my goodness, and this kitchen is a mess!  _ She takes a look around, hands at her hips. With a few swift movements she forms the bread and puts it in the oven. 

"Come down here, quickly!" she yells again at the bottom of the stairs, just to go back to grab for her dish rag to scrub the table clean. 

"Where's the fire?" Tom mutters at his wife's excitement as he comes down the stairs. "Did you say Finny is here?" He hoists up his bracers, peering out of the window. "And Roark is here too," he tells his wife, looking for his baseball hat.

"That's what I just told you!" she scolds good naturedly. "Quickly get the lemonade out of the pantry, they'll surely need some refreshment." While she speaks excitedly she takes out the toast, butter and fresh cheese and ham to make some quick sandwiches for a start. That's when she already hears her beloved son's voice. 

"Mum? Dad? Are you home?"

Roark checks over their clothes again, making sure his glamour holds and has no embarrassing gaps appearing. When he is satisfied with his inspection he turns his attention to the farm house. The last time they were here was to tell Finn's parents that they had been handfasted and he'll never forget the mixture of sheer joy but also disappointment and sorrow in his parents' eyes that they had missed their only child's wedding. He still bears the guilt of that as so many other things, even if he had had little choice in light of the circumstances. He hopes that their latest announcement can offer some recompense in the knowledge that this time they are the first to know. 

He smiles when Finn's father opens the door to them, arms already spread wide in greeting. The contrast with his own parent relationship is so stark and his longing for that human family connection, now that he has experienced it, is almost painful. 

"Finny! Roark!" Tom calls out, barely allowing them time to set foot on the porch before he grabs each in turn in a firm hug. "I didn't know you were coming! Everything alright? Come in, come in!" 

_ We didn't know we were coming either _ , Finn almost blurts out as he hugs his dad fiercely, having given their light ball over to Roark's partly restored glamor. "It was a bit of a short notice call," Finn mumbles against his father's neck before freeing himself and wrapping his mum in a just as fierce clutch in the hallway, letting her crush him against her bozem.

"This is such a delightful surprise, Finny," Rose reaches up and takes his face between both her hands. "You look so happy my boy!" she exclaims with a warm smile.

Roark hovers a little awkwardly behind his husband, still not feeling entirely natural in this setting and he doesn't want to impose himself on the handful of times Finn gets to see his parents. 

He almost jumps when Tom clasps his shoulder firmly. "You okay, lad? That's nice," he nods to the orb hovering between his fingers. "What is it?" 

"I … will let Finn explain," Roark looks quickly to his husband, realising he has no clue about the proper etiquette around this in the human world. He lets the ball levitate in the air as he is pulled to Rose’s bozem next. 

The ley line curls itself around their offspring protectively and hovers close to Finn's shoulder. He feels it's warmth radiate onto his skin suddenly acutely aware of his  _ skin!  _

"It's so great to see you, mum! Dad!" he clears his throat. "We had a long journey," he says apologetically, stepping towards the stairs. "We'll quickly freshen up and then will be right down with you." He sees Roark's suit jacket flicker and grabs his hand. "This way, babe." 

Roark's grateful when they step into Finn's little childhood bedroom and he can let his glamor drop. Even with the ley line's support, his profound exhaustion has made it difficult to keep his concentration on so many things at once and at one point, when Finn's mum squeezed him tight he had almost wavered, which would have been awfully embarrassing. 

"You look good," he remarks as his eyes slide over his husband's now bare muscular body. Being back in the human world brings a glow out in Finn's skin and he sure doesn't appear to suffer the same aching tiredness that Roark does.

Finn smiles and steps closer to his man. "Thank you," he strokes his fingertips across Roark's cheek. " _ You _ look exhausted. Do you wanna lie down for a moment?" It's still strange for him to see Roark vulnerable. All the years at Mather’s he'd subconsciously admired his unwavering power, his magick, his force of nature as the Prince of Air and Darkness. He knows that he's the only one who gets to see Prince Lyne like this. He fleetingly touches his lips to those parched looking ones, searching those capturing eyes for an answer.

Roark smiles at the tender kiss but shakes his head. "I'm fine," he lies, knowing that Finn won't believe him but stubbornly saying it anyway. "Some fresh clothes and some water and I'll be fine," he adds when he sees Finn is about to manhandle him to lie down. "Really Finn, I am." He caresses a strand of hair behind Finn's ear. "I'm sure your mum will have plenty of food and cold lemonade to make sure I'm back in top condition in no time," he winks, vividly recalling the spoils of their last visit. "And I know you are dying to tell them about this little one," he caresses the aura of the glowing light shell around the chrysalis. 

"Alright," Finn leans briefly into the tender touch, "you win." He grins and turns to his closet to quickly pull out some jeans and a t-shirt he knows still fit him. Then he throws a pair of boxer briefs to his husband, before checking his few clothes for a smaller size. He pulls out a pair of faded black jeans he remembers wearing when he was about seventeen and a silky, grey button up shirt he'd only worn once for his parents' silver wedding day.  _ Perfect for Mr Handsome,  _ he thinks fondly, guiding their miracle towards his pillow so they can get dressed.

Roark holds up the trousers and then the nice shirt that is totally not Finn's taste, but which he himself approves of gratefully. He pulls them on and checks himself out in the dusty mirror behind the door. To his surprise it doesn't look half bad. "Thanks," he grins, when he finds Finn looking him up and down. He pulls on his remaining glamor a little to wipe the exhaustion off his face and put his hair back into place. "Does it look okay?"

“Mmmm,” Phineas stands behind his man and wraps his arms around his slender waist, “It makes you look so hot that I’d like to take it off you again asap.” He grins into the mirror. “Can’t believe you’re standing in my old room, wearing my old clothes, Prince Lyne,” he teases. “I love you so much,” he nuzzles his nose into the crock of the smaller man’s neck, letting the ley line bring their sphere of love over to them, lingering above their shoulders. 

Roark leans back against his consort, enjoying the embrace for a moment as he threads his fingers through Finn's. Then he gently untangles himself. "Best leave the taking it back off again until after Beltane," he gives Finn a chaste kiss. "I don't think I would survive another …" It's only then that he realises his wings are gone. He hadn't given it any thought until now as he's back to his normal form again. Now though he blinks at his reflection and then looks back at Finn and the little orb that buzzes softly next to him. "I guess they've fulfilled their duty," he grins. "Thank the Goddess!"

“Oh you mean your beautiful wings?” Phineas asks. He hadn’t thought anything about the fact that Roark looked just as human as he did. Especially since he didn’t have his wings on display most of the time. 

Roark playfully rolls his eyes. "Parents," he reminds his lover before they get distracted again. "I guess this will come as a surprise to them," he drags his fingers through his now black blue hair again. 

"Just as it did for us," Finn grins, leading Roark out of the room before their hormones play up again. "Still can't believe the ley line brought us here first instead of our quarters. I…" he hesitates at the top of the stairs, turning around and gathering his husband into his arms again. "Dads! Can you imagine?!" he asks, feeling very exhilarated and very clueless at the same time.

Roark laughs now. Finn is adorable like that and his heart overflows for his man again. No, he can't really imagine. He never thought that he would have children and as the second son it wasn't expected of him either. But when he sees the excitement in Finn's sea-blue eyes he suddenly wonders what his husband's expectations of that title are. He follows him down the stairs and into the small cosy living room. There are books and magazines and plants and little ornaments everywhere. The furniture is a little old fashioned for human standards but it feels homely and comfortable. The bird in him admires all of the little trinkets scattered around the room, but his stomach gratefully follows Phinn into the kitchen where he eyes the food spread out on the wooden table - meats, cheese and apples, freshly baked bread and of course Mrs Smith's famous homemade lemonade. He suddenly realises he's absolutely ravenous.  _ Is _ this  _ what being a parent is to Finn? Cosy lunch times together eating far too much food and talking about farming and college _ ? He sighs, but tries not to show Finn his concerns.  _ This isn't what my childhood was like for sure. I am not sure I can do this …  _ He decides to put those thoughts to the back of his mind for now, but knows he will have to discuss this with Finn later and manage his expectations. 

He takes his seat at the table as Finn's mum motions for them to do. Their fairy egg hovers safely between them and he squeezes his husband's hand under the table. 

Finn squeezes back and then says, “Grace,” bowing his head as the other Smiths do the same. He reaches for the basket with the warm smelling bread and holds it out to Roark, knowing he needs the food desperately. He’s hungry too but not as famished as he thought he would be after their wonderful and explosive … exercise. 

He stabs a meat ball with his fork and starts somewhat awkwardly, “Mum, Dad,” he takes a bite and chews, making appreciative sounds, trying to formulate the words in his head. “You’re going to be grandparents,” he then just blurts out, beaming with pride. 

After a few seconds of utter silence, when the ticking of the grandfather clock in the living room gets loud and louder, Mrs Smith bursts into, “Oh Finny! Oh Roark!” She jumps up from her chair and hugs them in their sitting positions. Then quickly sits down again, her hands against her cheeks. “What joy! How, when?!” she asks excitedly. 

Roark coughs when he realises that everyone including Finn, is looking at him to answer. _Humans are mammals_ _,_ he remembers from his lessons at Mather’s. _The females carry their unborn children in their bellies for up to nine months. Of course Finn will have no idea about fairy babies. Such matters aren't taught to other beings._ "Ehm well," he wipes his mouth on his napkin, "fairy babies are not like human babies." He curves his palm around the now tennis ball size egg of light and gently coaxes it forward so it hovers above the centre of the table. "They are made from gl… _magick,"_ he uses the human word which also feels more appropriate in case of _their_ baby because it is made of much more than just glamor. "It takes about four to five weeks for it to emerge from _this_ ," he smiles a little awkwardly at Finn's mum, whose eyes are growing wider and wider.

“That… that is the… the,” Finn’s mother looks from him, to the hovering ball, to Roark and back, “what do you call it in your language, Roark? It is beautiful,” she says with admiration, trying to get her mind around the exciting news. She wants to ask so many more questions. 

If Finn wouldn’t have known from Seb already that it only takes such a short time for their offspring to  _ emerge,  _ he’d be panicked by that fact. He almost is now anyway. So much to learn until then! He looks at his husband with just as much rapt attention as his mum does, wanting to absorb every bit of information he can get. 

Roark relaxes a little as Finn's parents are so genuinely interested and enthusiastic. His father too leans in to take a closer look at their creation. " The baby we call  _ waen.  _ It is still inside its cocoon at the moment, which is called _ cochall _ . The  _ cochall  _ is inside this ball of … magick, the  _ slige-shìdh _ . Like an … a fairy-..." he tries to find the best English word, "shell …. fairy-shell. Yes. This is just the protective layer around the … cocoon," he tries to explain as clearly as he can. But to make his point clearer he holds up his index finger and then moves it as if to poke the tightly knit ball of glamor and ley line. Before he is able to connect with the seemingly fragile shell the light hisses and sparks and then shoots a blue shard at him like a dagger, only stopped by his own shield of glamor absorbing the impact before it can harm him. 

"Whoah!" Tom jumps up from his seat, staring in complete awe and fright at the powerful orb of magick.

Finn is up on his feet too, startled as hell, not sure if this was what Roark had intended or if that little creature already has such powerful magick of its own. He throws him a questioning look, feeling the ley line’s angry hum.

"It's okay," Roark takes Finn's hand again and squeezes it in reassurance. "As you can see it offers very good protection of  _ our.. baby _ ," he drowns in Finn's eyes as he says that. Whilst it's not a term his people use, he finds he likes how it makes Finn's eyes glint with pride and love and so he is happy to use the human term for  _ their  _ child. 

"I… I didn't know it can do that," Phineas sits down again. "So it can protect itself against ...beings that might want to harm it?" he muses out loud, partly wishing they could have had this conversation in private first.

His mum exhales the breath she's been holding, eyeing the little thing that hums between its parents again now suspiciously. 

"It's not the  _ waen _ ," Roark calmly explains to his husband. "Not yet. Just  _ our _ magick protecting it," he says fondly and with a great deal of pride that that part of him is working so effectively with part of Finn to protect their youngling. 

"So ehm," Tom clears his throat as he slowly sits himself back down again now that the strange ball has stopped hissing like a pissed off cat. "This… baby… is it going to be like you or like Finny? What I mean to ask is, will it be human or …  _ fairy _ ?" he is still getting used to the fact that there even are such real beings sharing their world, let alone that his boy is married to a fairy prince. He rubs his moustache, which Finn knows is a sign of his brain going a million miles per hour.

Roark throws a glance at Finn. "We don't actually know," he says slowly. "Finn is not like a normal human, as you know. If he had been then we would not have been able to… I didn't think that we could give you grandchildren," he tries to put diplomatically. "So it was quite the surprise for us as well," he smiles at his husband, still in awe that they had.

Finn feels himself blush at the intense gaze of his lover and the memory of that extraordinary mating ritual. He nods, "It was. Thanks for explaining it so well to us." He bends to kiss Roark fleetingly onto his pale cheek. "It won't pull a stunt like this again if we don't try to poke it, right?" he better asks his man even though he feels the ley line's calmness soothing him and the  _ baby. _

Roark snorts. "Don't threaten it and you'll be fine," he says both to Finn and his parents, who both seem a little frightened of their precious orb now. "I promise, Mrs Smith," he tries to smile reassuringly as he coaxes the ball back into the open. 

"It's  _ mum _ , Roark," Rose encourages again as she puts a big slice of cheesecake onto his plate, never letting the sparkling orb out of her sight when it levitates closer to her. "It is so… breathtakingly  _ beautiful,"  _ She says in awe. "May we… are you going to visit once it's born? Or however you call it ..." Her mouth runs away with her.

"Of course mum," Finn says instantly, not even knowing if and when it would be possible. It's just the utter delight he feels and sees in his parents' eyes that makes him want to give back joy for a change after all these years of worrying. 

"Yes," Roark adds his own promise solemnly. "I promise we will." Finn's bright smile, mirrored by his mother's, are worth the oath. And he wants this child to know the human world that Phineas comes from too. He can well imagine what his mother's views on that matter will be, but he will deal with that argument in due time. 

"Well, my many congratulations to you both," Tom has finally gotten over the shock of it all and is able to join in the enjoyment. "I did not think I would see this day, but then nothing much surprises me anymore," he means well. "And if you two are happy, which you look like you are, then I am sure this …"

" _ Waen _ ," Roark offers. "Baby is fine," he smiles politely.

"This waen," Mr Smith tries the newly learnt word out. He might take some time to get his head around it all but no-one can accuse him of not willing to try his best, "will be lucky to have you as parents." He raises his glass of beer, "To becoming dads, the most important job in the world!"

Finn feels very emotional all of a sudden. Roark  _ promising  _ that they’ll visit and his father congratulating them makes it finally sink in that  _ this is REAL!  _ “We’re becoming dads,” he mutters, not aware that he’s said it out loud, raising his glass and squeezing Roark’s hand again.

Rose dabs at the corner of her eyes with her napkin, then raising her glass of lemonade too, “To your little family,” she says shakily. “We’re so happy for the both of you. A grandchild! What a miracle!”

+++

Roark turns back the sheets of the bed. It's going to be a little snug with the two of them sharing Finn's bed and Mr and Mrs Smith had apologised profusely and even ordered for dad to sleep on the couch and mum in Finny's bed so that they could share the double as was befitting the _ Royal Highnesses _ . But Roark had waved off the outrageous offer, insisting that he would be absolutely fine, pointing out that at least he was small and light of frame as a Fae.  _ And it's not like they haven't shared a small bed before...  _

"Finn, my love," he says seriously as he watches his husband get undressed whilst their orb glows softly over his old study desk. "Please can we talk a moment."

Phineas smiles at his husband in his old room and bed. He sits himself down at the edge, in only his underwear, stroking his fingertips over Roark's handfasting patterns. "Yes of course, what is it?"

“What does it mean to be a dad?" Roark asks a little bluntly, but he is too tired still to come up with anything more sophisticated.

Finn blinks at his husband. "Ehrm… it means you and I are going to have a baby?" He frowns, worried that Roark has really lost the plot in his exhaustion. "Isn't that what we've just spent the whole afternoon talking to my folks about?" 

"Not  _ that  _ part," Roark rolls his eyes, giving Smith a shove with his foot. He folds his arm under his head, taking a long breath. "I meant  _ after  _ that. I never knew my dad. And my mother is not exactly a role model for parenthood," he snorts. "I guess my brothers and I didn’t exactly have a normal childhood. Not by your standards anyway. What does it mean to  _ you _ ?" 

Finn melts inside at the question. His ancient husband who knows how to fight monsters and lead armies, who is one of the most powerful Fae he knows, asks him this question. But of course he doesn’t know since he's  never had a father. And not a father as in the human sense in any case. Phineas thinks for a moment, pulling Roark’s hand to his mouth and kissing his knuckles. “Being a dad means that you’re there for your kid when they need you. Being there to teach them things, to tell them stories. To be strict, even when they don’t like it. To show them rules and guide them at the same time. To show them love and that they belong…” he stops, looking into his man’s eyes as he realises he might have overwhelmed him a bit with all of that.  And on the other hand he doesn't know how fae raise their offsprings either. All he's ever known were adult fae, come to think of it. "What does it mean in your… in the Winter Court?"

Roark smiles at the loving gesture and all those nice things he said about what being a father means to him.  _ He's going to be a good dad,  _ he muses.  _ But will I?  _ He feels stupid when he admits, “I don’t really know.” That is not something he had ever taken much of an interest in when it came to his subjects. He looks at Finn a little helplessly and then asks softly, "I can rule a court in my mother's absence, I can command an army, but what if I can't be a dad?" 

“Oh babe,” Finn coaxes their magickal sphere towards them and onto Roark’s chest, squeezing into the bed beside him, intertwining their fingers. “Believe me, you can be.” He nuzzles his nose into the other’s hair, inhaling. “I can feel how you love our little waen already, and how you want to protect it fiercely. I’m just as insecure as you are,” he admits too. “Knowing what to do and actually being able to do it are two different shoes,” Finn laughs a little. “But I’m sure we’ll learn, together.” 

Roark feels some of the tension melt from his body as Finn curls himself around him. The _slige-shìdh_ settles itself comfortably on his chest as if to confirm that it agrees with Finn's faith in him. _Together. Together feels wonderful. He's never had someone to share his doubts and insecurities with. It is quite amazing how much it lightens the load even just to talk about it._ He rubs the back of his husband's hand and kisses him before snuggling his head into his chest, under his chin. "You are going to be a fine dad," he murmurs unprecedented praise. "Perhaps this time you can teach me." 


End file.
